Hurricanes aim to blow away Barbados’ Pride for WI Championship title
With less than two points separating first from second place on the points standing after four rounds of the West Indies Championship, the Leeward Islands Hurricanes currently second with 65.4 points to leaders Barbados Pride’s 67 points are aiming to pull a rabbit out of the hat when round five starts on Wednesday in Trinidad.
Hurricanes head coach Stuart Williams is cognizant of his team thinking too far ahead, as they come up against the Jamaica Scorpions in their final match at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.
Coach Williams said,
"For the entire tournament we’ve been preaching one game at a time, we just want to stay in the moment and not looking too far ahead. Once we play to our full potential, we will get the desired result. Our senior players and some of the juniors have stepped up to the plate with their performances. Kieran Powell has over 400 runs from four matches, Rahkeem Cornwall is the leading wicket-taker with 21 wickets. Colin Archibald and Jeremiah Louis, along with Devon Thomas have all put their hands up for the team. And Keacy Carty is now reaping the rewards with a West Indies ODI debut.”
Meanwhile, Barbados Pride head coach, Vasbert Drakes indicates his team has plans for their final match against the Windward Islands Volcanoes at the Diego Martin Sporting Complex.
Coming off a loss to the Guyana Harpy Eagles in round three, the Pride dominated Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in round four, winnings by an innings and 22 runs.
With a slim lead of 1.6 points over the Leeward Islands Hurricanes, coach Drakes was pleased with his team’s “collaborative efforts and momentum gained” from the victory over the Red Force.
Coach Drakes indicated that his Pride players are ready for the Volcanoes challenge and are looking forward to executing their skills and plans,
"The skills are already there, it’s just a matter of going out there and playing the cricket we are capable of playing… and controlling the game.”
In a roundup of the remaining matches, Trinidad and Tobago Red Force will take on third place Guyana Harpy Eagles at the Queen’s Park Oval.
No doubt it will be an exciting fight to the finish for the Headley/ Weekes trophy of the West Indies Championship 2022.