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Despite a six-wicket loss to Morrisville Samp Army in their final round-robin game of the Abu Dhabi T10 2023, New York Strikers remain confident ahead of the playoffs.
The Strikers rode on five consecutive wins to cement a spot in the top two positions in the first stage of the competition and decided to rest a few key players - Sunil Narine, Akeal Hosein, Muhammad Jawadullah and Mammad Amir on Thursday. After being asked to bat first Strikers were bowled out for 70, which was easily chased down by the opposition in 7 overs. Speaking on the result, the New York Strikers coach Carl Crowe said, "The priority number one for the whole tournament was to finish in the top two. So we have done that and are pleased with that. By finishing in the top two, it allowed us to rest players. We had a pretty intense last three to four days. Two days ago, we played the last game in the evening, and the next day we had the first game. So, the opportunity to rest a few key players was important. "We are still disappointed with the loss tonight. We would like to win. But the context is that a few guys were coming in who were playing their first games in the tournament. So we would go back and review the game as we always do. We would look back to where we did well and where we could improve in the playoffs," he added. Crow further said that his team understood more about the conditions on the second last day of the competition and will use the knowledge to their advantage in the upcoming games. "I want every day to be a good day. So I am never happy with a bad day. But you always learn from days like this. Pollard was out there, experiencing their conditions. So, it's also a learning for us. We will come back better and stronger- expecting to put on a really good show and we will bring the fight for that victory." Fast bowler Asif Khan, who played his first game of the season, echoed his coach's sentiments and said that the team will return with more positive energy in the coming matches. "We did not get off to a start. We lost a wicket on the first ball and that put the team in the backfoot straightaway. In the end, we just could not get going on the batting side. When we came out to bowl, the plan was to try and give our best - and try to restrict them as low as possible. Unfortunately, the game did not go our way. Our main players were also rested. Tomorrow is the main game - so we will bring in more positive energy and try to turn things back in our corner," the US international said. Asif further hinted that the rested players are likely to return in the playoff games on Friday. "We are going to play as per the squad that team management decides - we will come out and just play the way we have been playing throughout this tournament. We were unbeaten in the last five games - so we will bring our A game tomorrow," he signed off. (ANI)
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