BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Barbados captain Kieron Pollard wants a huge final push from his side ahead of their home leg starting here next week, as they seek to turn the page on a spell of ordinary form and book their place in the final four of the Caribbean Premier League.
Tridents won their opener against reigning champions, Jamaica Tallawahs, on August 5 but since then have managed just one win in five outings, to be fourth in the six-team standings on four points.
Significantly, they have lost their last three games to Trinbago Knight Riders, St Kitts and Nevis Patriots and Guyana Amazon Warriors, and Pollard said it was critical Tridents made the most of their final four games at Kensington Oval. “Obviously we want to finish in the top four because the main thing is qualifying for the playoffs,” Pollard told a media scrum on the team’s arrival here Monday. “There are different scenarios if you finish in the top two [but] it might be a hard reach for us now, so we have to get a couple wins under our belt. There’s no secret about that so let’s see if we can muster that first.
“In playoffs and knockout cricket, it’s who plays better on the day so again, it’s about scrapping now and getting in and staying in that top four.”
With the winless St Lucia Stars having no hope of advancing, Tridents and Amazon Warriors will now scrap for what could possibly be the final playoff spot.
Pollard, who has been in enterprising all-round form, said it was important everyone pulled their weight and also used the next few days to reflect and re-focus.
“We have to keep believing. Yes performances have been there but sometimes individual performances alone doesn’t help. You want all the guys performing,” he pointed out.
“You rather make 30 and win a game than how Smitty (Dwayne Smith) scored a hundred and we lost. He’s disappointed that we actually lost the game because he batted superbly well but again, we have to dig deep as team … and we have to be desperate.”
