The race is not for the swift but those who endureth to the end.
Certainly, the Barbados Tridents must be cognizant of this saying for after starting off the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) in grand style with four consecutive victories – the first three on home soil – they were brought back to earth with three straight losses.
Consequently, the Tridents slipped from top position to third at the end of the preliminary rounds. The upshot is that they will now square off against the Jamaica Tallawahs in the semi-finals on Friday at the Queen’s Park Oval at 8 p.m.
The Tallawahs will not only have the psychological advantage after easily defeating the Tridents by six wickets at Sabina Park in a day match last Saturday, but they have received a massive boost with the recruitment of one of the world’s best batsmen in Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka.
Sangakkara has replaced opener Ahmed Shehzad, who will be joining Pakistan’s team for a tour of Zimbabwe.
The fingers of veteran Sri Lankan mystery off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan must be itching to get another bowl at the Tridents’ batsmen following his mesmerizing spell when he bagged three for 12 in his four overs.
However, I don’t think the Tridents will make the same mistake of sending Ashley Nurse and Kyle Mayers ahead of the more accomplished Jonathan Carter and former Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan, who despite not firing with the bat as yet, is among the world’s top allrounders in limited-overs cricket.
It was really a tactical error as both Carter and Shakib, who are known to be fairly good players of spin bowling, never got to the crease.
But ever since the Tridents changed their winning 11 against the Guyana Amazon Warriors, they have endured a losing streak, so much so that instead of coming into the semi-finals in high spirits, they are on a low and now appear to be vulnerable as their confidence has been shattered.
Whereas inspirational captain Kieron Pollard has seemingly reopened the “duck” farm which he had in the One-Day International series against Pakistan, opposing Tallawahs’ skipper Chris Gayle seems to be regaining his touch.
Gayle displayed the type of ominous batting form that he is capable of with a destructive 51 off 25 balls which was studded with five sixes and four fours against Red Steel.
It is noteworthy that while teams like the Tallawahs, Trinidad Red Steel and the Amazon Warriors now appear to be getting stronger at the right time with the addition of Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Lasith Malinga respectively, the Tridents’ early aura of invincibility has been shattered.
I thought the Tridents missed the boat by not securing a wicket-keeper-batsman to replace Umar Akmal, who will no longer be joining the Pakistan side for health reasons.
Former Pakistan all-rounder Azhar Mahmood is a widely travelled and experienced campaigner, having plied his trade in many T20 leagues around the world, but looking at the make-up of the Tridents’ side, I’m not sure he is the perfect fit.
There are many pundits who under-estimate or simply don’t recognize the value of having a competent wicket-keeper in any form of cricket. This is a specialist position and shouldn’t be filled by a batsman. As we have seen at crunch time, these part-time ball stoppers can wilt under the pressure and make costly errors.
Carter may be a versatile cricketer but wicket-keeping is not his forte and it is not fair to ask him to undertake such an unfamiliar task, which he doesn’t even perform at the club level. In fact, apart from his batting, he’s more valuable as a slippery fast-medium bowler and as an outfielder.
Of those international players available, someone like New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum, who is a very explosive batsman and an ideal opening partner for Dwayne Smith, would have been a better choice or even Bangladesh’s diminutive captain and wicket-keeper Musfiqur Rahim. However, one can only speculate about the thoroughness in the process to secure replacement players.
After a good opening match against the St Lucia Zouks, the signs were there concerning the vulnerability of the Tridents’ batting against quality bowlers from the time Fidel Edwards exposed a few cracks in the team’s armour, chasing the meagre 52 which the Red Steel managed.
That aside, even though the Tridents are on a slippery slope, they still have some of the leading performers in the CPL, who must now come good in the semi-finals.
Franchise player Shoaib Malik has shown his worth with bat and ball and is in line for the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award.
His 223 runs (average 31.85) are the second most, behind Andre Fletcher (238) of the eliminated Zouks.
Malik’s is also the most economical bowler with an economy rate of 3.15 runs per over and the Tridents will again look to him to get the rid of Gayle early as he did last Saturday, bowling him for just five.
Raymon Reifer, if he plays, could be a surprise weapon with his improving left-arm fast-medium bowling considering Gayle’s troubles against left-arm seamers that was again manifested in the recent series versus Pakistan while facing seven-footer Mohammad Irfan.
Shakib (11), Rayad Emrit (10) and Nurse (10) are among the leading wicket-takers while the beanpole Jason Holder, who was shockingly relegated to the seventh bowler in the last game versus the Tallawahs, has also been fairly tidy with an economy rate of 6.05 runs per over.
However, big pacer Shannon Gabriel has been a disappointment and should lose his place as there are more than enough bowling options.
Let’s hope that there won’t be any controversial umpiring decisions to mar the match. While one is delighted that many of the regional umpires have been utilized, it is clear some of them are not quite up to scratch.
