We bowled very, very poorly - Sangakkara

Jamaica Tallawahs captain Kumar Sangakkara believes better bowling will be required if his side is to defeat the Chris Gayle-led St Kitts and Nevis Patriots on Wednesday at Sabina Park and advance to the play-offs of the Hero Motocorp Caribbean Premier League Twenty20.

The Tallawahs, who are seeking to reclaim the title, were beaten in their second home fixture on Saturday, going down by 36 runs to the Dwayne Bravo-captained Trinbago Knight Riders.

The defeat, which was the Tallawahs' third from eight matches, saw the Knight Riders posting a mammoth 208 for six on the back of 91 from New Zealander Brendan McCallum, and 42 from countryman Colin Munro.

Seamers Rovman Powell, two for 38, and Krishmar Santokie, two for 39, led the way for the Tallawahs in the field.

In their response, despite 53 from Sangakkara, and 32 from Lendl Simmons, 30 from Powell, and 21 off 12 balls from AndrÈ McCarthy, Jamaica fell short at 172 for seven off 20 overs.

Seamer Jason Searles, three for 27, claimed most wickets.

KEY TO LOSS

"The key to the loss is that we bowled very, very poorly,'' said Sangakkara, whose charges were chasing their second sub-200 total of the season.

"We are not bowling to our plans and our strengths, as well as we are setting fields and bowling to our fields.

"There were too many length balls, which can be hit, and not enough variations and bowling in line with the wicket.''

Sangakkara, who also starred with the bat as the Tallawahs trounced St Lucia Stars by six wickets last Friday at the same venue, in highlighting the strength of St Kitts, expressed hope for an improvement.

"We have a lot think about, a lot to talk about and apply into our next game," he said. "We expect a very tough game against St Kitts, so we have to brush up our skills."

The Patriots, who benefitted in the off-season with the transfer of Gayle from the Tallawahs, are presently second in the six-team standings with six wins and two losses, and have already qualified for, at least, the play-off.

They are, however, seeking to join Trinbago in the semi-finals by beating Jamaica. The top teams at the end of the preliminaries automatically advance to the semi-finals with the third- and fourth-place finishers contesting a play-off.