Pollard: Revenge not on Tridents' minds

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):

Barbados Tridents open their 2016 Caribbean Premier League campaign here tonight against Trinbago Knight Riders in a rematch of last season's final, but captain Kieron Pollard said revenge would not be a motive for his visiting side in the contest at Queen's Park.

Tridents entered the final at the same venue last year July as defending champions but slumped to a 20-run defeat, handing the then Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel their first ever CPL title.

However, Trinidadian Pollard said that defeat was now firmly in the past and his side would be looking to make its mark on the new season.

"Revenge is not on our minds. At the end of the day, we played a final and Trinidad came out on top and that's done and dusted," the all-rounder said.

"That was last year. This year is a new year. [It's a] new cricket game, guys have moved on ... a lot of things have happened [since], so revenge is the last thing on our minds."

HIGHLY ANTICIPATED

The game is a highly anticipated one, with both sides boasting a number of global Twenty20 stars in their line-ups.

TKR will be led by captain Dwayne Bravo and also includes South African Hashim Amla, New Zealander Brendon McCullum, and champion off-spinner Sunil Narine.

For their part, Tridents have in their ranks for the first time this year South Africa batting star AB de Villiers, along with Shoaib Malik, rising West Indies star Jason Holder, and Pollard.

TKR will be desperate for a victory, especially after losing the tournament opener to St Lucia Zouks by six wickets on Wednesday night here.