Despite Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) recording their second Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League T20 loss against Guyana Amazon Warriors on Tuesday night, in their first home match at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain, the four-time winners remain optimistic for Wednesday’s meeting with defending champions Jamaica Tallawahs, at the same venue.
Left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein said the franchise remains in good spirits ahead of their second home contest and had returned to the drawing board to correct their mistakes as they gear up to face the 2022 champions.
Guyana Amazon Warriors maintained their unbeaten run of form this year as they notched an important six-wicket victory over TKR by successfully chasing down the latter’s 172/8, to seal a gritty 175/4 victory, with five balls to spare.
This was TKR’s second loss in six matches, alongside three wins and one no-result.
Looking ahead to Wednesday’s clash, Hosein said the team’s mood remains positive.
“Spirits are high. At the end of the day, when you get a loss, you go back to the drawing board and see where you went wrong. We know where we went wrong in the batting and bowling department.
“So we’re not dropping any heads. This is cricket. We have a quick turnaround with a game (against Jamaica Tallawahs) tomorrow (Wednesday). So we just go back to the drawing board quickly, regroup as a team and see where we can improve for the next game,” he told the media in the post-match report.
Additionally, the past two matches saw TKR play without talismanic T20 talent Dwayne Bravo. His absence from last Sunday’s match against Tallawahs saw TKR still churn out a win, but the story was different on Tuesday night.
Asked if Bravo would be available for Wednesday’s second meeting against the Jamaica franchise, Hosein could not confirm nor deny if the all-rounder would feature.
“(He has) just a little niggle, but I’m sure he’ll come around soon. I’m unsure if he’ll be ready for tomorrow (today), I’ll have to ask the medical staff.”
Reflecting on the loss, which saw TKR drop at least five crucial catches, and slip to third in the standings, Hosein stressed an old cricketing adage.
“Catches do win matches, and we put down a couple. That being said, I think we fielded poorly. It was a bit of a challenge earlier, having batted first. I thought we were 15-20 runs short. But whatever score the batters put on the board, we, as the bowlers, have to go out there and defend it.”
Hosein also batted higher up the order, at number five, and finished on 44 not out from 35 balls, TKR’s highest scorer on the night. Chipping in were Irish wicketkeeper Lorcan Tucker (38), skipper Kieron Pollard (25) and Nicholas Pooran (15).
Asked if he thought tinkering with the batting lineup may have proved problematic in the end, Hosein disagreed.
“No, not really. When you have power players in your team, you want them to go out there and play freely. You want them to have one sort of mindset, which is, ‘Go out there and smash it from ball one.’
“These guys are world-beater
