Samuels Calls Out Patriots’ Fielding
(ZIZ News) Cricket fans in St. Kitts and Nevis again left the Warner Park Stadium disheartened Friday evening after their Patriots team suffered a 7-wicket defeat to the Guyana Amazon Warriors.
Sent in to bat first, the Patriots were restricted to 149 for 9 at the end of their 20 overs. Openers Martin Guptill and Evin Lewis were the only two batsmen to really get going as they each scored 34 runs to lead the team.
Guyana, on the other hand, raced to their target in 16 overs with Captain Denesh Ramdin leading the charge with an unbeaten 54. Opener Lindl Simmons got the team off to a good start with his 41 runs.
The home team also gave up a total of 24 extra runs.
Captain of the St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots, Marlon Samuels said significant improvement is needed in the area of fielding.
“They bowled good in patches, but nevertheless we posted a good total to go out there and defend it because the wicket was getting slower and slower and difficult to bat on so again to be honest can’t really say much but our fielding continues to let us down,” he said.
“If you’re gonna come into a tournament and learn to field it’s always going to be difficult. So we just have to be more positive and continue to put in some hard work in the training sessions, in the fielding, and just get it together in the game. This is where it’s most important. To come and bring our ‘A Game’ in terms of fielding because we were batting well, and bowling well, and we can defend any total but the fielding department is continuing to haunt us and hurt us,” he added.
Samuels said the onus is on the players themselves to dig deep and find the will to win games.
“We would just have to go and sit down and really look deep into ourselves in terms of our fielding and come out. Because the cricket is all about pride and we’re playing in front of our home crowd so we should definitely step up our game in terms of fielding.”
“It’s hurting, to be honest. I could tell you every night that we need to step up our game but talk is cheap. We definitely have to come to the party. I don’t have a problem in the batting and bowling department. It’s just our fielding continues to hurt us,” he added.
The result means the Patriots team is still stuck on two points from four matches with five more home matches in hand.