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.”
Tridents crashed to a disappointing loss on Sunday night, going down to Amazon Warriors by four wickets at the Guyana National Stadium.
The defeat came despite a superb 69-ball hundred from opener Dwayne Smith and left Tridents only ahead of the fifth placed Amazon Warriors on net run rate.
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.
