By Sherdon Pierre

Copyright newsday

SHERDON PIERRE

Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) star batsman and captain Nicholas Pooran admitted that winning was all that mattered following their nine-wicket victory over Antigua and Barbuda Falcons in the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League eliminator match at the Providence Stadium in Guyana, on September 16.

After his team’s victory, Pooran said, “It didn’t matter how we got that win, we had to. Even if it means picking a fight and getting angry. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Antigua played a really good batting innings there and the bowlers came back into the game beautifully. We knew they were going to make it really hard for us.”

A visibly animated Pooran remonstrated with umpire Ryan Banwarie following two leg before decisions against him that was overturned via the DRS. Pooran admitted that he was pumped up and the desire to lead his team to victory made him emotional.

“In big games, we tend as players to be in the moment as much as possible. Decisions don’t go your way and you kind of feel a bit emotional. Today was tough to keep the emotions. I want to say that I apologised to the umpire in the spirit of the game. I’m just really happy we could get over the line,” said Pooran.

The stylish left-hander described the switch in intensity and environment from league to the playoff matches. He said, “Playoff cricket is a different type of cricket. It’s a different energy and atmosphere. We know what it takes to play these games. We’ve been in this position before. For us, it’s all about responsibility and holding each other accountable. Emotions are going to come out, but at the end of the day, we will do everything we need to win this game.” He continued, “As a franchise, we’ve been really successful. We haven’t won a title in the last couple of years. We’re searching so hard to win a title, sometimes we want to play the perfect game. If we continue to search for perfection, we’re going to get frustrated.”

The southpaw had his best score of the season in the match with a blistering 90 not out batting at his preferred number three position. Commenting on his pivotal decision, he added, “As the leader of the team, I had to lead from the front. I keep talking about taking responsibility when it’s your day…the game is about being brave as well.”

TKR will play against the loser of the match between the Guyana Amazon Warriors and St Lucia Kings in a qualifier two match on September 19 for a spot in the final on September 21.

Looking ahead to another decisive match, Pooran said, “We want to take every game as it comes, one game at a time. Obviously, we have a job to do, and it’s not completed yet. We want to continue to improve and continue to get better. We can’t control who will win the game between St Lucia and Guyana. They have done extremely well to be in that position as well. For us, we need to focus on ourselves and how we are going to improve as a group and focus on what we have to do as individuals.” Amazon Warriors and Kings played after press time on September 17 with the winner advancing to the final.