By Rawle Toney
The Barbados Royals’ return to the Kensington Oval didn’t go as planned, but Jason Holder remains optimistic about their chances of bouncing back from their 133-run defeat to the Trinbago Knight Riders on Wednesday evening.
During the Knight Riders’ innings, the Royals’ bowlers struggled against Martin Guptill who smashed an unbeaten 58-ball century.
In response, the Royals’ batters faced a daunting challenge against Afghan spinner Waqar Salamkheil, Akeal Hosein, and Andre Russell.
Salamkheil was particularly impressive, taking four wickets for just 14 runs in his three overs. Hosein (2/16), Russell (3/13), and Sunil Narine (1/11) also helped to restrict the Royals to a meagre total of 61.
The Royals’ score marked the fourth-lowest in CPL history, with their lowest being 59 runs against the Amazon Warriors in the 2017 tournament.
Only the Knight Riders (52) and the Amazon Warriors (55) have scored fewer runs in the tournament than the Royals.
“Yeah, it’s just one of those nights. When you’re chasing 200, you got to be up with the run,” a frustrated Holder told reporters at Kensington Oval after the Royals played their first CPL home game since 2019.
In their only win so far in the tournament, the Royals posted 200 against the Patriots. Only the Amazon Warriors scored more in this year’s CPL, with 210 against the Jamaica Tallawahs.
“We just did 200 last game, which is good, but then to come and put on a performance like this. So this is a little bit disappointing, especially after that last game. We’ve got a lot of improvement to make, you know. We got to bat a lot better than we’ve been batting in the tournament,” Holder said.
“It’s still pretty early in the competition, you know, We just need to be better on Thursday. We just got to be better. It’s not all doom and gloom for us.”
Despite the disappointing performance, Holder believes there is still hope for the 2019 champions, who have recorded two losses, one win, and one abandoned match in their four games up to Wednesday.
Their previous encounter on August 20 in St Lucia was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Holder emphasised the importance of an early breakthrough, particularly against Brandon King, the CPL’s leading scorer, who racked up 149 runs from three matches with a high score of 81.
The Royals have three more home games scheduled, including matches against the St Lucia Kings on September 2 and the Patriots the following day.
With aspirations of reclaiming the CPL trophy, Holder stressed the need for improved consistency and better cricket in the upcoming matches.
