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.
Kings XI Punjab set to resign Gayle, will release Cottrell
Indian Premier League (IPL) club Kings XI Punjab are expected to predictably retain West Indian star batsman Chris Gayle but will release his compatriot Sheldon Cottrell ahead of the new season.
The 31-year-old pace bowler was bought for a sizeable INR 8.5 crore ($US1,156,239) during the IPL 2020 auction but failed to justify the price tag. In six matches, Cottrell bowled 20 overs, claiming 6 wickets for 176 runs at an expensive economy rate of 8.80. Unfortunately, perhaps the player's biggest moment came after being on the wrong side of thrashing from Rajasthan Royals Rahul Tewatia, who smashed 5 sixes off one of his overs during a record run chase.
Gayle, on the other hand, was sensational. Despite starting the season on the sidelines, the big left-hander became the driving force behind the team's push for a playoff spot, although it ended with the team narrowly missing out on 6th spot. The West Indian had been left on the bench for the first seven games of the season. He was not picked for the first five, and food poisoning ruled him out for the next two. He ended with 288 runs at an average of 44.14 and a high score of 99.
India batsman Karun Nair is also expected to be released but the team remains undecided on Australian Glenn Maxwell, who had a mediocre IPL season but had a splendid series against India.
Windies suffer six-wicket loss in ODI opener against Bangladesh in Dhaka
The West Indies suffered a humiliating six-wicket loss to Bangladesh in the first of three ODI’s today, going down by six wickets with 97 balls to spare in the match played at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka.
Reggae Boy Brown was allowed to leave Bengaluru FC to seek more playing time
Bengaluru FC coach Naushad Moosa insists the club parted ways with Jamaica international Deshorn Brown in order to allow the player to search for more playing time.
The 30-year-old forward recently completed a move to top-flight Indian team NorthEast United, away from Bengaluru, who he joined last year on a one-and-a-half-year deal. Brown scored three goals in 17 appearances and increasingly found first-team football hard to come by.
Moosa replaced outgoing coach Carles Cuadrat, as the club looks to begin a rebuilding process, that has seen the former B-team coach step up as head coach.
"When you talk about Brown, as a club we want to help the player. Now if you see Ajay (Chhetri), he is getting playing opportunities with East Bengal. Brown was not getting enough playing time (at Bengaluru). So, for his development, we should allow him to go and play [elsewhere]. We thought we should help him get more playing time," Moosa said.
Brown will be looking to regain his goalscoring form with the Highlanders who will be without Kwesi Appiah who is set to miss the rest of the season with an injury. The Jamaican has previously played for the likes of DC United and Colorado Rapids. It is hoped will be able to link up with Idrissa Sylla and Luis Machado.
Brown has played 14 games for Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz since making his debut in 2013.
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