Kieron Pollard’s sensational batting handed Trinidad and Tobago an unlikely four-wicket victory against New South Wales in the Champions League Twenty20 Super Eight match.
The West Indian side were all at sea chasing a stiff target of 171 runs, before Pollard took them passed the winning target, smashing a hurricane unbeaten 54 runs in just 18 balls and leaving the Australian side shellshocked.
New South Wales lost the match even before they could figure out what was happening in the middle.
The match had almost slipped out of Trinidad’s hand when they needed 51 runs from 24 balls. That’s when Pollard took centrestage and hit the ball with amazing power, dealing only in fours and sixes and reached the target with nine balls to spare.
Six balls what it took for Pollard to change the game on its head and at the receiving end was Moises Henriques, bowling the 17th over of the innings. The first ball went for wide and the next five fetched 26 runs that included three sixes and two fours.
After the dramatic over, Pollard and Sherwin Ganga batted sensibly and saw off the next over from dangerous Brett Lee. Trinidad and Tobago then needed 16 runs from the last two overs.
New South Wales captain made the mistake of handing the ball to Henriques again, perhaps trying to lay out a fishing net for Pollard. But it proved to be a bad call.
It took just three balls for Pollard to see his team through. The first ball from Henriques, a low full toss, went for a four. The next two went for sixes and Pollard, who had 20-20 tattooed on his head, celebrated wildly along with his teammates.
Trinidad and Tobago thus improved their chances of reaching the semifinals as they were carrying two points into the league stage and with this victory added two more points.
Earlier, New South Wales rode on a century opening partnership from Phil Hughes (83) and David Warner (63) to reach 170 for four. Hughes’ 64-ball innings had 11 fours and one six. Warner smashed five fours and three sixes. The duo scored 121 runs in 15.2 overs.
