Manager of the Trinidad and Tobago cricket team Omar Khan says his players need to rebound quickly, when they meet hosts Leeward Islands in their second match of the 2012 Regional T20 cricket tournament, at the Sir Vivian Richards ground in Antigua tonight at 8pm. The defending champions stumbled at their first hurdle on Monday, when they went down to little fancied Windward Islands by 11 runs. Khan said yesterday chasing 130 runs for victory should not have been difficult for such a talented group of players. However, he noted big names and reputation do not win matches. "There is no doubt that these guys are very good at the T20 game because they have performed all over the world but they need to show their worth and show why they got such a reputation."
Khan added the defeat had affected the players and the mood in camp was very sombre when they returned to the Jolly Beach Habour Hotel, where they are staying."The players know where they went wrong and they have taken the loss very badly indeed. They know what they have to do and they have to play very hard from now on. They need to win their next three games and win them convincingly in order to qualify for the semis." "We have met with some of the players individually and we will be meeting with a few more before the next game. One of our top players Sunil Narine had a bad game and this cost us. We will speak to him to find out his current mindset and we will work with him. He has been playing a lot of cricket.
"We conceded 47 runs from the final four overs and this was too much. We have experience players and they should know how to bowl in situations like this. "Our batting remains a bit of a problem. While some players got starts and Dwayne Bravo was very good with his 51, the guys failed to build partnerships and this was critical when chasing that 130 runs." Looking ahead to tonight's clash against the Leewards, Khan said the Leewards were playing at home and remained dangerous. "I have said before every team is dangerous in T20 cricket. Our players need to play hard as if it is a final and battle well. We are in a must win situation now and the boys have to fight hard if they want to repeat as regional champions and move on to the Champions League again."
Teams
T&T: Denesh Ramdin (c/wk), Samuel Badree, Adrian Barath, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Bravo, Kevon Cooper, Rayad Emrit, Sherwin Ganga,
Justin Guillen, Jason Mohammed, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Ravi Rampaul and Lendl Simmons. Manager Omar Khan, coach Kelvin Williams.
Leewards: Justin Athanaze, Lionel Baker, Shane Burton, Jason Campbell, Jahmar Hamilton, Chesney Hughes, Larry Joseph, Javier Liburd, Anthony Martin, Kieran Powell, Austin Richards, Devon Thomas (wk) Gavin Tonge and Kelbert Walters
Head to Head History
2010 - T&T won by 5 wkts.
2011 - T&T by 56 runs.
