Poor decision making blamed for Hurricanes first Super50 loss

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Coach of the Leeward Islands Hurricanes, Reginald Benjamin, has blamed “poor decision making” for his team’s 11-run defeat to the Trinidad & Tobago Red Force in the Regional Super50 here at the Coolidge Cricket Ground on Thursday.
Previously unbeaten after three rounds of matches, Hurricanes put on a half-baked batting performance as they failed to successfully chase 226 set by Red Force.
Benjamin believes that with better decisions at the crease, Hurricanes could have won the match pretty easily.
“I think most of it went right in our fielding and stuff but in our batting approach I think we found too many ways to lose that game because that was a game for us to win but its part of the process. The start that we had gotten would have seemed like we were chasing 325 because we were 115 without loss and we couldn’t ask for a better start,” he said.
“We lost two valuable batsmen playing the same shots at long-on which in, at that stage of the game, it wasn’t warranted and the run-out [of Gavin Tonge] towards the end, I think that was the one that really concluded that it was going to be a hard fight for us to win that game,” he added.
Although disheartened by the loss, Benjamin said his team is still trying to find itself but credited the Red Force with playing a good game.
“Leeward Islands haven’t been playing winning cricket for a while and we have started playing a positive winning style of cricket and sometimes it’s hard, because even though you know you can win, it’s hard for us as a group to get accustom to winning. So at times, you are going to find games like these where we find ways to lose rather than ways to win,” the coach said.
“Trinidad is a very organized unit and anybody who watched that game could see how organized and well led they were by Ramdin and I must congratulate them for playing such a tough game,” he added. 
The sub-regional squad will also have to contest the remainder of the Super50 without the services of experienced West Indies batsman, Marlon Samuels who is slated to play in the Pakistan Super League.
“I have personally thanked him for coming and wanting to play for the Leeward Islands. Unfortunately, things happen at the highest level that are out of my pay-grade and I only can control certain things that I can control and so I wish him all the best. I was hoping personally that Marlon would be with us [for the entire tournament] and from the onset that was the indication but I don’t know what changed along the way,” he said.
The Hurricanes will take on Kent Spitfires on Saturday at the Coolidge Cricket Ground starting at 1:30pm.

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