Even as Jamaica Scorpions slumped to their second defeat in three regional four-day cricket matches this season, Assistant Coach Nikita Miller offered an optimistic outlook after the loss to Barbados Pride at Sabina Park on Saturday.

The Pride survived the odd scare to rush to 176-6 in the final session of day four after they were set 173 runs for victory.

All-rounder Roshon Primus rode his luck in a breezy 34-ball 43 to seal the victory for the visitors. The Scorpions off-spinner Peat Salmon grabbed 3-69, while leg-spinner Abhijai Mansingh ended with two wickets.

Scores: Scorpions 269 (78.4 ovs) and 292 (83.2 ovs); Pride 389 (120 ovs) and 176-6 (38.3 ovs)

Referencing the defeat to Windward Islands Volcanoes two weeks ago and the victory over Combined Campuses and Colleges in round two, Miller said the start to this season is an improvement from the last campaign when they went winless throughout.

“I’m disappointed we lost the game, but I’m proud of the boys because they showed fight. When you look at where we’re coming from last season, we were really down in terms of our performances,” he told journalists during a post-match interview.

He noted that the Scorpions, who faced a 120-run first-innings deficit, batted admirably late in their second innings, recovering from 215-8 to score 292. Derval Green was central to that fightback with a battling 48 not out.

“To have the lower order, with those three batters — especially Derval — showing resilience, gave us the opportunity to believe we could win this game.

“The bowlers put in a real shift, but if we were more consistent with the areas in which we bowled I think the result could have been different,” he said.

Miller added that the Scorpions’ first-innings meltdowns when they were 103-2 and later 234-6 only to be bowled out for 269 were major turning points.

“We were poised to get a big total… even in moments before [being 234-6], if we didn’t lose a cluster of wickets then the total would’ve been different. In the first innings is where you set up the game, and that is where we are falling down at the moment,” he said.

“It’s frustrating, but I’m staying positive because of where we are coming from and where we are now — we are heading in the right direction,” the assistant coach reiterated.

Barbados Pride Captain Kraigg Brathwaite said his team put in a united effort.

“It’s good to see the fight we showed today on a [wearing] fourth-day pitch. It was good to see how our batters went about it.

“It was a good all-round performance… [though] we let ourselves down with the number of dropped chances,” he said.

“I thought how we batted in the [first] innings — batting out the whole day and getting the lead — was very crucial for us, as in all first-class games. I liked how we fought with the ball as well despite the dropped chances — the guys still stuck to the task, so that was good,” the West Indies Test captain added.

Jamaica Scorpions began the day from their overnight score of 220-8, with Derval Green on six and Gordon Bryan, who was yet to score, the not out batsmen for the Scorpions.

Green batted responsibly, and in the company of Bryan (22) and later Shields (four), picked his moments to lift the Scorpions as they set a 172-run target.

Bryan was bowled by left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican after they added 40 runs for the ninth wicket.

Green added a further 37 runs with last man Shields as overcast conditions hovered in the skies. However, just as Green approached the half-century milestone, with the Pride’s frustration growing, Shields tried to hoick a delivery from debutant Shaquille Cumberbatch and was caught just beyond the batting square.

It was the second time in the match that Shields had played an ill-advised shot to the chagrin of his batting partner — the tail-ender had left Romaine Morris stranded on 97 in the first innings.

Cumberbatch, the 29-year-old pacer who has operated as a ground staff member in Barbados, took an impressive 5-46 for the Pride.

The Scorpions had to defend the small target short-handed as pacer Bryan did not feature in the second innings due to an injured right arm.

But they had early inroads.

Brathwaite, who made a patient, decisive century in the first innings, played forward and nudged a Salmon delivery to be caught at short leg.

Skipper Jermaine Blackwood, at second slip, dropped Zachary McCaskie, on 12, off Green, the last ball before light rain curtailed play in the post-lunch session. But just after the restart McCaskie flashed at a delivery from the relentless Green and edged to the safe clutches of Chadwick Walton at first slip.

The Scorpions missed a few chances thereafter but managed to prise out Jonathan Drakes (nine), Kevin Wickham (29), and left-hander Shayne Moseley (25) as the Pride reached 141-5.

But Primus launched a few lusty blows to push back the hosts, and though he was bowled by Mansingh — who was belatedly brought into the attack — the powerful batsman ensured the Pride were hardly fazed.