– Head Coach pleased with six wins out of six
Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Sagicor High Performance saved their best for the last as they completely outplayed United Arab Emirates in a massive nine-wicket win on Sunday night. They swept all before them on tour and ended with the perfect record of six wins out of six matches played.
They were ruthless against the less experienced opposition and bowled them out for 98 off 19.4 overs at the ICC Global Cricket Academy. They replied in grand style with 99-1 off just six overs – with 84 runs coming in boundaries.
Kyle Corbin played some stunning shots in 53 off just 21 balls. He blasted six fours and four sixes in an opening stand of 92 with Rajendra Chandrika, who got 34 not out from 15 balls, to follow up his 114 against Afghanistan on Saturday. Earlier in the match, leg-spinner Nkrumah Bonner (4-18) destroyed the middle-order after pacer Brandon Bess (2-13) did the early damage.
For Head Coach Andre Coley, it was a pleasing end to an outstanding tour. He outlined that the players benefitted immensely from playing in foreign conditions and should be extremely proud of their performances.
"This was a great way to end the tour. Six wins out of six matches says a lot and the players have reason to be proud. Tonight’s win showed that they were focussed on what was required and I was happy to see they maintained their discipline and the desire to learn with every opportunity and to win. When we came here we all knew it was a developmental tour, but we also wanted to win and I am very pleased with this performance and the overall effort on tour," said Coley.
"Towards the back end of tours players tend to slack-off but we didn’t want that from them today. We wanted them to go in with the same level of focus as if they were playing the first match. We wanted to make a statement and to keep the standards up."
The Sagicor HPC had wins over UAE Blues, UAE and Afghanistan in the T20 matches, while they beat UAE, Afghanistan and the West Indies in the 50 Over matches.
Coley added: "The most important thing is the learning process. They played well in difficult conditions. Our batsmen were tested in every match and they did very well to give us scores for our bowlers to defend and the bowlers were outstanding in every match we played.
"As the tour went on we got used to the weather. A lot of credit must go to our fitness trainer and our physio for keeping them (players) fit and on the park. It was very hot and I know it was not easy for the players but they worked hard and got the results. On Saturday Chandrika played a very good innings in the very hot conditions. It was physically very taxing and I know it taxed him mentally as well. It just goes to show how strong physically the players are."
The Sagicor HPC will depart from Dubai later this week. They will then assemble for a camp at their homebase at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies before their next assignment in the Regional Super50 Tournament in Guyana from October 19 to 29.