Walk on the wide side: Kieron Pollard ‘distances’ himself from umpire’s decision during CPL match
Trinbago Knight Riders captain Kieron Pollard is one of the most eccentric characters in world cricket. And, his reaction during a recent Caribbean Premier League (CPL) fixture against the St Lucia Kings only helped to reinforce the reputation.
In the penultimate over of the innings -- that lasted 10 deliveries and was bowled by Wahab Riaz -- Tim Seifert faced a delivery that was way wide his off-stump. The Kiwi wicketkeeper-batsman failed to make contact, despite being at full stretch.
To the surprise of the batsman and Pollard, at the non-striker's end, the delivery was adjudged to be legal by the umpire even though Seifert made no attempt to shuffle around in the crease. Wahab Riaz had already bowled four wides in the over.
Instead of getting into an argument over the decision, Pollard registered his protest by moving nearly 20 yards away from the umpire and placing himself at short-midwicket, near the 30-yard circle, parallel to the crease for the final delivery. He stood even farther away from where runners would usually stand during a game.
Pollard leads Trinbago to second win in CPL 2021
The Trinbago Knight Riders became the first side to play out their first four fixtures in the tournament. Having gone through the entirety of the previous edition without a defeat, the defending champions have already registered two this season, starting with their opening day defeat to the Guyana Amazon Warriors.
St Lucia Kings won the toss and put Trinbago in. Skipper Kieron Pollard and Tim Seifert made up for the side’s rusty start with a 78-run partnership. The fifth-wicket stand helped the side post 158-7.
St Lucia Kings had their chase derailed in the middle overs with Andre Fletcher left stranded at an unbeaten 81. They fell short by 27 runs.