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FOLLOWING their confidence-boosting first-round win over Ireland last Friday Malta Supreme Guyana, led by Christopher Barnwell, will be looking to make it two out of two when they face defending champions Windward Islands in the second round of the West Indies Cricket Board NAGICO Super50 tournament at the Queen’s Park Oval today.In their first game against the Irish, the Guyanese who last won a Regional Super50 title in 2005, got a solid opening partnership between dependable middle order batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul and pugnacious opener Trevon Griffith, who curbed his aggressive attitude while posting 129 for the first wicket.
It set the foundation for the stylish right-handed Ramnaresh Sarwan to come at the depth of the innings and free his hand in his man-of-the-match and unbeaten 62-ball 89 which, together with 79 from Chanderpaul and 62 from Griffith, piloted Malta Supreme Guyana to 301 for 3 from their 50 overs.
Their bowlers, led by Paul Wintz’ 3 for 30 and two wickets each from Narsingh Deonarine and Ronsford Beaton, reduced the Irish to 180, but against the defending champions, who got an unbeaten ton from Keddy Lesporis, Guyana would have to be taking their A game to the venue for today’s encounter which bowls off at 14:00hrs.
Prior to the first game, Barnwell said he was looking to his top three experienced players in the squad, namely Chanderpaul, Sarwan and Deonarine to come good for their team.
“We have a lot of talented guys and we have a lot of senior guys like Shiv, Sarwan and Narsingh. I think it’s going to be a good game for us to go out there and do our best, while I expect everyone to play his role in the team to the best of their ability,” stated Barnwell.
From the look of things in the outdoor nets at the venue yesterday, Malta Supreme Guyana may be fielding the same 11 that faced the Irish, which means Robin Bacchus, Royston Crandon and Assad Fudadin would have to be content with the towel duties in these humid conditions.
Chanderpaul and Griffith would start the batting, backed by Sarwan, Barnwell, Deonarine and Leon Johnson, while Anthony Bramble, who can also be used as an opener in times of need, can also chip in with the bat and do so heavily when he gets going.
Veerasammy Permaul, Devendra Bishoo and pacers Ronsford Beaton and Paul Wintz, are all useful players with the bat, as much as they are with the ball, hence the Guyana lineup can be a force to be reckoned with.
Following Beaton and Wintz’ exploits with the two new balls used in this contest for Malta Supreme Guyana would be the guile of Permaul, Bishoo and Deonarine, while Barnwell can also chip in with his steady medium pace.
The Windward Islands, who, judging from their first round display against Jamaica, are badly missing injured skipper Darren Sammy and banned off-spinner Shane Shillingford, but will be looking to rebound against a team they have defeated in the last two Regional Super50 tournaments to date.
West Indies opener Johnson Charles and Devon Smith got decent starts during their team’s reply to Jamaica’s 282 for 5, a total they finally got after being 32 for 3, thanks to Mervin Matthew’s opening burst.
But they both failed to carry on and were it not for Lesporis’ resilience, backed by a workmanlike 25 from Matthew, the defending champions would not have reached their final total of 268 for 8.
Both Charles and Smith, along with Tyrone Theophille, Andre Fletcher, Romel Currency and skipper Liam Sebastian, would need to come good with the bat against the Malta Supreme Guyana bowling attack.
On the other hand, their bowlers would need to capitalise and apply more pressure after making early inroads since they failed to do so against the Jamaicans, which means that Matthew, Sebastien, Delorn Johnson, Garey Mathurin and Kenroy Peters need to make a game out of it and keep their team in, with a win.
GUYANA: Christopher Barnwell (captain), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Anthony Bramble, Robin Bacchus, Trevon Griffith, Leon Johnson, Narsingh Deonarine, Royston Crandon, Assad Fudadin, Devendra Bishoo, Veerasammy Permaul, Ronsford Beaton, Paul Wintz; Esaun Crandon (coach)
WINDWARD ISLANDS: Liam Sebastien (captain), Andre Fletcher, Johnson Charles, Tyron Theophille, Mervin Matthew, Craig Emmanuel, Garey Mathurin, Keddy Lesporis, Devon Smith, Dalton Polius, Delorn Johnson, Kenroy Peters, Romel Currency, Alston Bobb; Ian Allen (coach).
Written By Calvin Roberts in Trinidad and Tobago