Middlesex's Dawid Malan hits out against England during their Stanford Super Series match at Stanford Cricket Ground in Coolidge, Antigua on Sunday. England won by 12 runs. Scores: England 121 for four off 20 overs (Owais Shah 39 not out, Matt Prior 29, Ian Bell 23, Murali Kartik 2-27). Middlesex 109 for four off 20 overs (Dawid Malan 41 not out, Ed Joyce 33). - AP

COOLIDGE, Antigua, CMC

Sylvester Joseph captained the Stanford Super-stars to victory over Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday night but the Antiguan batsman quickly admits that they must improve in their remaining games.

Joseph top-scored with an unbeaten 45 in steering his team to 146 for five and they limited Trinidad and Tobago's reply to 124 for eight.

Out-cricket was sloppy

The 22-run victory gave the Superstars the result they wanted, but their out-cricket was sloppy and it was not a convincing performance ahead of their US$20 million clash with England this weekend.

"There are areas we need to work on," Joseph said after the game.

"We need to work on our bowling, and in the field there were a few blunders," he added.

Joseph had support from Travis Dowlin (35), Andre Fletcher (25), and Kieron Pollard (24) when the Superstars batted, and their bowling attack was led by the tall left-arm pacer Sulieman Benn and fast bowler Jerome Taylor.

Benn claimed two for 15 off his four overs and Taylor snared two for 24 from his four overs.

The Stanford Superstars were without key batsmen Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul for the game.

Joseph felt the Superstars' batting stuttered at the top of the order - 34 for two in the eighth over - but recovered well.

"We had our plans. We lost a few wickets too early. In the end, we got up to a decent total that we knew we could defend," Joseph said.

Joseph also suggested that the outing was a good "trial" for them in match conditions since their intense training only partially prepared them for the series conditions.

"We've been preparing for six weeks under these conditions, but we've not had a crowd or the media watching us. I think tonight was a trial for us, and hopefully we'll come back to show a better performance in the field," he said.

The series climax

The Superstars play next on Thursday against Middlesex and face England Saturday in the series climax.

The clash between the Stanford Superstars and England is a US$20 million winner-take-all showdown.

It is the first of five annual matches, with a total prize of US$100 million.

The prize money will be shared $1 million each for players on the winning team, $1 million to be shared between the reserve players and $1 million between the support staff.

The West Indies and England boards would each receive $3.5 million.

The series continues today with England against Trinidad and Tobago.