Barbados looking to extend T&T's woes

Trinidad Express article.

Port of Spain, Trinidad - Trinidad and Tobago Red Force can still salvage their abysmal Professional Cricket League four-day campaign but the odds are against them.

Without skipper Rayad Emrit, the youthful Red Force squad led by Jason Mohammed will be going up against one of the more consistent teams in the West Indies, defending champions Barbados Pride.

The match bowls off today at 10 a.m. at Kensington Oval where the Red Force have not recorded a four-day victory in over a decade.

Barbados have won the previous three first class matches against T&T at Kensington, the last two in 2013 and 2014, by an innings.

The Bajans have also whipped T&T in five of their previous six four-day encounters, the last of which was a rain-affected drawn game at Kensington Oval in November last year.

T&T are coming off an embarrassing innings and 148-run loss against the Windward Islands when they were dismissed for 177 and 75 and manager Roland Sampath said he expected them to do a lot better against the defending champions.

The only good news for T&T is the fact that Emrit will return to the team for the match against Jamaica at Sabina Park next week.

Meanwhile, Barbados romped to victory in a one-sided contest against the Leeward Islands Hurricanes last weekend but few of the Bajans were ever really challenged. The bowlers hardly broke a sweat as the home side rolled over the Hurricanes by an innings and 190 runs.

“The team is very mentally prepared. We take no opposition for granted nor leave room for complacency,” head coach Hendy Springer told the Barbados Nation newspaper on the eve of the match.

“Every team we play against have their strengths and weaknesses. We respect their strengths and look to exploit their weaknesses. All the players in our squad are working towards improving their game. Some are looking to regain their spots on the international side and some are working towards making their debut at that level, so there is always incentive to perform well,” Springer said.

Barbados, the only unbeaten side in the competition, sit in second position on 60 points, 15 behind leaders Guyana and a comfortable 34 ahead of T&T who have struggled in the absence of several of their key players and are one rung from the bottom on 26 points.

CAUGHT! Khan c Warrican b Cummins 5. Red Force 31-1 (7.2 ov) New batsman is Ottley. [Pride:275]