Bowen: Team has stepped up to another level

Barbados Pride manager Colin Bowen has maintained that the team never lost hope despite a challenging start to the ongoing West Indies Championship.

 

The Pride, last year’s runners-up, lost the opening match of their bilateral series against the Jamaica Scorpions, but rebounded to draw the second match and win the third and final game to qualify for the playoffs.

 

Speaking to Barbados TODAY after a crushing innings and 11-run victory over the Scorpions at Sabina Park yesterday, Bowen said the team was always in good spirits, despite losing the opening game. 

 

“Well Jamaica has been having some good starts throughout the tournament. I think they had two 200-run opening partnerships and another pretty good partnership, probably over nearly 100 runs or so, but in these innings we were able to separate the openers pretty early.

 

“We always thought that if we could separate the openers early, that we would be able to make some inroads into the batting lineup,” Bowen said.

 

While the Barbadian batsmen have been in tremendous form throughout the competition, it was the bowlers who set up the emphatic win.

 

“The wickets in Jamaica have been very, very, very good. They have played exceptionally well and the batsmen made good use of them. 

 

“The bowlers had to toil very hard from the very first game and it continued up to the last game until that session in the afternoon where we were able to extract some turn and bounce on the wicket. However, if you notice the following day, the wicket went back to as docile as it was before,” Bowen said.

 

The Pride will now head to Antigua, where they will face the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in the playoffs on May 10 for a chance to face defending champions Guyana Harpy Eagles in the final.

 

Despite not playing in Antigua in this year’s competition, Bowen said he expected the team to adapt quickly.

 

“All the other teams (except Jamaica) played in Antigua, so they would have had some sort of knowledge of the playing surfaces going in. We will not look at that as any major advantage, because we always believe that wherever we play, if we play to our best we will succeed,” he noted.

 

Bowen said the team had done well to avoid any serious injuries, with the physio and trainer treating minor niggles.

 

He said they planned to use the weeklong break to further address any more serious complaints.

 

Meanwhile, captain Kraigg Brathwaite praised his troops for their stellar performance and never-say-die attitude.

 

“I’m very proud of the team. I thought we put in a good effort from the second game, getting first innings, [despite] that big total that Jamaica scored, and then getting a win in this last game is a very good effort,” Brathwaite said.

 

(KH)