..Defending Champion, Warriors, battle Kings tomorrow

TODAY, from 19:00hrs Barbados Royals and Trinbago Knight Riders will do battle in Eliminator 1 at the Providence Stadium before defending Champions Guyana Amazon Warriors and St Lucia
Kings face-off in a top of the table clash tomorrow in Qualifier 1.
The winner of Qualifier 1 goes through to Sunday’s final.

The winner of Eliminator 1 will play the loser of Qualifier 1 on Friday with the winner of that game qualifying for the final.
On Monday, at the Pegasus Suites and Conference Centre, the four Captains attended a press conference to give their thoughts on their respective teams on what to expect in the play- offs.
Royals Rovman Powell informed that they started well in Antigua but fell off in their last few games.

“Guyana has not been a happy hunting ground for us over the past few years but this year provides an opportunity to change that.
The mood in the camp is pretty good and we have practice session today (yesterday) to fine tune the skills for tomorrow’s (today’s) game against a strong Trinidadian team…we are looking forward to the game”.
Trinbago Knight Riders Skipper, Kieron Pollard, said that for any tournament the aim is to qualify and Knight Riders has done that and it’s a step in the right direction.

“We have been battling a lot of injuries in the camp but kudos to the guys for coming out each time to perform under that sort of pressure. On a selection perspective we are never sure who will be on the park. The fact that three teams have finished on 14 points has shown the strength of the other teams and the cricket that has been played and we are looking forward to this most important part of the tournament,” stated Pollard.

St Lucia Kings captain, Faf du Plessis, said that the first task is to get to the semis and get in the top places since that makes it easier to get to that final.
“I am proud of the team in the six games… how we have performed. In another two days we will be playing Guyana. Glad to be playing a night game again … we have played four day games in a row …looking forward to a bit cooler temperature.
Nice occasion, of course a nice crowd would be waiting. The 45-year-old leggie Imran Tahir captained the Warriors to their first title last year.

“We had a really good start from Antigua and all the way down and we have come back to our hometown Guyana. I thank the crowd…they always support me and the team which is amazing
from them.

From a team point of view, we have achieved all that we wanted. Happy for brand of cricket we have shown throughout the competition and character they have shown in the past two weeks.
We are looking forward to the challenge, this is crunch time and I wish the four captains all the best” Tahir said

Tahir said that last year they won their first title. Last year our team gelled really well together. We had to work hard to win the competition and we are very proud of that.
But coming back to defend the title it is a bigger challenge but we are up for it. We are playing very good cricket and I am confident that we can go through the crucial matches and make all Guyanese proud” continued Tahir.
Tahir added he was very happy for the position the Warriors are in.