(Reporting and Photography by Akeem Greene in Barbados)
Barbados Tridents hopes of making the Hero CPL playoffs are dwindling and captain Jason Holder said his side will have to throw caution to the wind and be positive against Guyana Amazon Warriors come Friday at the Kensington Oval.
Tridents have lost four of their six matches in the 2018 tournament, and are hovering just above St. Lucia Stars, who occupy the cellar position.
On Wednesday evening, Tridents went down by five wickets to Jamaica Tallawahs at the Kensington Oval. It was their third successive home defeat this season, in front of an extremely supportive crowd at the Oval.
If they stand any chance of making the knockout stages, they would have to overcome an in-form Guyana Amazon Warriors unit.
Holder, speaking exclusively to News Room Sport after Wednesday’s slump, said there is no room for being cautious and they will go hard at the Warriors.
“I don’t think at this stage we could be cautious; we just got to play fearless cricket. We are in a stage where we must win and I think this game against Guyana is a very important game for us. We got to see it as a final and our batsman just have to go and be free as they possibly can and express themselves,” the skipper contended.
Though the light is getting dim at the end of the tunnel for Tridents, the captain felt all is not lost and they must remain positive.
“We got to remain positive, still four games remain, two at home and two away and I think it is important our players take a look in the mirror and back themselves. They have been all selected for a reason and we have full confidence behind them and I have no doubt we can turn it around,” Holder reckoned.
If the pitch plays anywhere close to how it did on Wednesday, with good pace and bounce, which had the keepers taking the ball at chest height, Tridents will look to unleash their pace artillery, which includes the skipper, Mohammed Irfan, Wahab Riaz and Chemar Holder.
They will have to look at getting Raymon Reifer back into the playing XI since he had 5-20 against Warriors at Providence, when they won their first match of the season.
Warriors’ openers have not fired consistently and that creates a loophole for Tridents to exploit.
“We got to see how the wicket goes and it is about executing our game plan. I think the bowlers have been tremendous for us this tournament, just a matter for the batters to chip in with a few more runs,” the Barbadian all-rounder stated.
When these two sides last played at the Oval, Tridents were routed for 59 in pursuit of 159, with Sohail Tanveer producing a magical spell of swing bowling, taking 5-3 in four overs.
The match on Friday commences at 20:00h.
