Trinidad and Tobago Red Force coach David Furlonge said his players are ready and focused for their CG United Super50 Cup semi-final test against Barbados Pride, which takes place at 2pm today at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground , in North Sound.
The defending champions arrived in Antigua on Sunday and had training sessions on Monday and yesterday and Furlonge said from what he has seen, the players have their eyes on the prize.
“We’re a little more relaxed now knowing who we’re playing. Now we can work on game plans and sit down and discuss what we want to do against them,” he told the Express yesterday.
“The players have settled in well since arriving in Antigua and know the importance of the game. It is an elimination game so we have to give our best and the players are really looking forward to the competition,” he added.
T&T topped Zone A, which was played in Trinidad, after losing just one game to the Guyana Harpy Eagles in a dramatic last-ball finish that could have gone either way.
A goalless result against Combined Campuses and Colleges meant the Red Force had to beat the Windward Islands Hurricanes on the final day of the competition to make the play-offs, which they did, in what was perhaps their performance the best of shots in the preliminaries. round.
Captain Nicholas Pooran came good with the bat scoring an unbeaten 99 while Darren Bravo also registered an unbeaten half-century as T&T won by seven wickets.
Furlonge hopes to see the same kind of application going forward. “What the players did in that last game was play cricket the right way,” Furlonge said, noting, “We saw the right shots and we didn’t see any reckless shots. We saw the right shots from both teams and like I said, it could be a learning opportunity for any youngster, the way both games came together.”
He said the bowlers have done a “tremendous job” and that the batsmen were able to execute their plans in the previous two matches despite losing a few wickets. “We were beaten deeply”, he added.
While most of the runs are expected to come from the bat of experienced top order batsmen Jason Mohammed, Darren Bravo, Kjorn Ottley and Nicholas Pooran, the lower order, including players like Terrance Hinds, Sunil Narine, Akeal Hosein and Yannic Cariah, everyone is pretty handy with the bat too.
The Pride, second behind Jamaica Scorpions in Zone B, which was contested in Antigua, also has a strong batting line-up led by Shai Hope and Jonathan Carter and also includes former Red Force opener Kyle Hope and all-rounder Roshon Primus.
Furlonge said the players are “ready and focused” and that he has not seen any signs of complacency. “If we see that (satisfaction), we will pull them very quickly with a short training session,” said the Red Force coach.
He said the captain is on point to keep his players focused on the task at hand. “Pooran has been fantastic and after that narrow loss (against Guyana) he gave a great speech to the team,” Furlonge revealed. “He always pushed the players to look at their performances at the end of the game and not point the finger at others. He is positive in his talks and I think he has been excellent as a captain for us.”
Tomorrow, the second semi-final will see the Jamaica Scorpions, who topped Zone B, in action against the Guyana Harpy Eagles at the same venue from 2pm. The final is scheduled for Saturday.
Equipment:
(@ Vivian Richards Cricket Ground)
Today (first semi-final)
T&T Red Force vs Barbados Pride, 2pm
Tomorrow (second semi-final)
Jamaica Scorpions vs Guyana Harpy Eagles, 2:00 p.m
