Tallawahs ‘satisfied’
Published:Tuesday | July 12, 2016 | 5:11 PMJermaine Lannaman
Captain Chris Gayle and coach Paul Nixon are satisfied with the showing of the Jamaica Tallawahs in the opening stages of the 2016 HERO Motocorp Caribbean Premier League Twenty20 cricket championship.
The Tallawahs, after four of 10 matches in the preliminary round, are second in the six-team table after amassing five points. This is after recording two wins, a loss and a no-result against Barbados Tridents on Monday night at Kensington Oval in Barbados.
"I am satisfied with the performance on the road by winning two games,'' said Gayle, at a welcome-home reception hosted by team sponsor Digicel, at the Norman Manley International Airport yesterday.
"We wanted to actually win three games. However, unfortunately, the rains affected the last game.''
Jamaica, who are seeking to reclaim the crown they captured three seasons ago during the inaugural staging of the tournament, opened their campaign with a five-run victory against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots.
This was followed up with a seven-wicket victory against the Trinbago Knight Riders, before losing to the Guyana Amazon Warriors.
HUNGER TO DO WELL
The team was then in a strong position at 116 for two off 10 overs against Barbados Tridents in a match that was reduced to 12 overs because of rain. The showers returned again to bring an abrupt end to the fixture.
"We are happy. We are in a good place as a team,'' said Nixon.
"We were slightly disappointed with Guyana, but great lessons learnt. We knew we had to bounce back and to go to Barbados and the way we played. The spirit we showed, the hunger and desire to do well again was really heart warming for everybody concerned,'' Nixon expressed.
Gayle, who continues to bear the brunt of the team's batting, following a half-century and an unbeaten century in the first two games, and 46 not out on Monday night, also believes the Barbados showing was a good one and is looking forward to the vibe continuing at Sabina Park.
"The good thing about it (Barbados match) is that we can use that game and build some momentum coming up on the 15th against Guyana,'' Gayle posited.
"Once we can get a good start at home, we can basically get the crowd involved, and after that try to keep that momentum and win a second one on the trot.''
Jamaica will open their home campaign against Guyana Amazon Warriors on Friday, before opposing St Kitts and Nevis Patriots a day later. They then play the Trinbago Knight Riders next Monday, before closing out against Barbados Tridents.
The Tallawahs will thereafter head to Florida, United States, for their final two preliminary-round matches.
The top four teams at the end of the preliminary round will progress to the semi-final elimination play-off series.