Hope backs Pride to beat Hurricanes

Despite a seesaw season thus far, Barbados Pride captain Shai Hope is backing his side to overcome the Leeward Islands Hurricanes in Thursday’s Super50 Cup second semi-final.

Pride lost three of their seven matches and finished third in the standings on 37 points following the preliminary round while Hurricanes led the standings for a while before finishing second on 44 points.

When the two teams met during the group stage, Hurricanes came away with a four-wicket victory in a low-scoring contest, but Hope said the results which had gone before were now insignificant.

“We’ve had our ups and downs. We understand that it’s a tournament and who wins the last game wins the tournament, so we have to put the losses aside and make sure we learn as quickly as we can from those particular losses,” the West Indies One-Day captain said ahead of the game at the Brian Lara Stadium.

“We’re obviously upbeat. The main focus was to get to the semi-final stage of the tournament and then we would have two more games to win the entire thing.

“So the guys are looking forward to this game. We played Leewards already, we have an idea of what they are going to be throwing at us, and it’s just about being smart on the day and playing our best cricket to get over the line,” Hope added.

Two of their defeats came in their three games at the Brian Lara Stadium and Hope said it was important the players adapted to the conditions.

“We played a few games at Brian Lara [Stadium]. I think that the conditions there kind of speak for [themselves] so we have to adapt our game and our planning, and make sure we can execute in those said conditions,” he said.

“We know that we have to bat better to win this tournament – there are no two ways about that. And as long as we bat well and make sure we execute with our plans, be clear with our plans and trust our preparations [we should do well].”

Pride’s last Super50 title came in 2017 and they have reached the final only once since then, in 2018 when they went down to Windward Islands Volcanoes.

Hurricanes, meanwhile, have now gone without success since they shared the title with Pride 13 years ago.

They were heavy favourites after reaching the 2019 final but found themselves completely outplayed by West Indies Emerging Players.

Under West Indies fast bowler Alzarri Joseph’s leadership, Hurricanes have flourished this season, finishing with four wins, two defeats and a no-result.

The 26-year-old said his side’s confidence was high ahead of the contest, especially having already beaten Pride.

“The tournament so far has been good. We made it through to the semi-finals so it’s been good,” Joseph said.

“We’re feeling confident going into the semi-finals because we have played Barbados in the group stage already and we won that game so we see what they have to offer and we know exactly what is needed.”

They have found a talisman in all-rounder Justin Greaves, the right-hander plundering 328 runs to be one of two players – along with Trinidad and Tobago Red Force captain Darren Bravo (323) – to pass the 300-run mark.

Both Kieran Powell and Jahmar Hamilton have also been among the runs with two half-centuries apiece, but Hurricanes’ bowling has also been potent, led by leg-spinner Hayden Walsh Jr with 16 wickets and left-arm spinner Daniel Doram (13).

“I think our strength is the fact that we have a well-balanced team and we’re not relying on one individual to pull the team out of trouble. I think everyone has been playing their roles pretty well,” Joseph explained.
(CMC/RB)