Red Steel Manager: We played good cricket and we played bad cricket

“We played good cricket and we played bad cricket.” That’s how Red Steel manager Colin Borde described his team’s performance in a tense “Super Over” loss to the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Limacol Caribbean Premier League Twenty20 match at Providence Stadium in Guyana on Thursday night.

However, despite the loss, Borde insisted the Red Steel had some positives to look forward to as they travel to Antigua for their third game of the season against the Antigua Hawksbills at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, bowling off at noon tomorrow.

The “good cricket” Borde referred to was the Red Steel’s bowling which made a valiant attempt at defending a small total of 118 for eight. Trinidad and Tobago leg-spinner Samuel Badree proved his worth grabbing three wickets for 18 runs from his four overs while Kevon Cooper took two for 19 as they combined to restrict the Amazon Warriors to 118 for nine.

T&T’s Sunil Narine, playing for the Amazon Warriors, then bowled a maiden “Super Over” to give his team the win. The “bad cricket” would be the fielding fumble by Fidel Edwards that went to the boundary and Nicholas Pooran’s dropped catch, both of which occurred in the final over of the match.

“I think our cricket was not clinical and I think both teams, on a difficult wicket, played up and down cricket which made for an exciting game. Ultimately in the end we did not finish it off in the way we would have liked,” Borde explained. The positives he said had to be the team’s bowling performance in the defence of a small total.

“I think we bowled very well as a unit. Defending such a small total was always going to be difficult and I think for most teams with 118, you would think that the game is over, but we fought really well and pulled ourselves back into the game,” said Borde. “Obviously if we can tighten up on some of the other areas, which the coaches will look into that with their expertise, we will be in a good stead,” the Red Steel manager added.

He also noted that it is very important that they bounce back with a win against the Hawksbills before travelling to T&T for the return match against the Warriors next Thursday, against the defending champions the Jamaica Tallawahs on July 26 and against Darren Sammy and his St Lucia Zouks on July 27 at Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain.

“You are going to win some and you will lose some but it is important we continue to play hard. We are focused on cricket and cricket only,” the manager added.

trinidadexpress.com