Self-belief was crucial for underdog Windies Emerging Players insists skipper Cariah

By Sports Desk December 02, 2019

West Indies Emerging Players celebrate winning the Colonial Super50 Cup.

West Indies Emerging Players captain Yannic Cariah has revealed that self-belief was key to the team unlikely triumph in the Colonial Medical Insurance Super50 competition on Sunday.

At the start of the tournament, few would have given the unit hastily stitched together by Cricket West Indies a shot to win the it all. In fact, the idea behind the Floyd Reifer-coached unit was to give player that had been rejected by their regional squads a chance to gain valuable experience. On Sunday, a 205 runs thrashing of the Leeward Islands in the final proved they were just as good as anyone else.

After several strong performances, the team’s run in the tournament seemed to be at an end following a crushing defeat to the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force just a week ago, however, another unlikely scenario, a loss for the Guyana Jaguars to the United States, put them squarely back in contention for the top prize.

“I told the guys once we got through the semifinals, we would win the tournament because I know the caliber of players that we have. We have a balanced team and the belief that everyone has is incredible,” Cariah said in a post-match interview.

“I have to thank the coaches, the staff who gave us the support that we needed. Men played with niggles, men played under the weather and we still came out on top, that a fantastic achievement,” he added.

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