Jason Holder of Barbados Tridents.
Barbados Tridents’ Jason Holder says the defending champions are out to prove a point when they host Guyana Amazon Warriors at the Kensington Oval on Saturday.
The 2015 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) tournament opener throws together a rematch of last year’s rain-marred final, in which the Tridents prevailed by eight runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method.
That result left many Amazon Warriors feeling hard done by but Holder says last year’s events add more spice to the opening fixture.
“They think that they had a chance to win that game so I think it’ll be interesting to see how we match up against them this year. We always have a good game against Guyana,” he told cplt20.com.
“I think they beat us in the preliminary stage last year so we will look to make amends from that and show them that if the final had finished last year we would have won.”
The Tridents began their preparations for the tournament at the Kensington Oval this week and Holder added that confidence is high in the camp, despite high expectations being placed on the 2014 champions.
“We are defending champions and the other franchises will be coming out to beat us this year. The first season we started very well and faded. Last year we didn’t start so hot but peaked at the right time,” added the 23-year-old Barbadian.
“Obviously there will be people who have their opinions and will talk as we build up towards the tournament but that’s normal in a sense and you just find a way to deal with it. I wouldn’t say there is any added pressure just because we are defending the title.
“For us it is just about getting into the tournament and executing our skills in pressure situations. If we do that more often than not, we will come up on top.”
Story and photo courtesy of www.cplt20.com