TODAY is the first semifinal of this year’s Regional Super50 tournament, with Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) opposing host Guyana at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, from 13:30hrs, while Jamaica and Sagicor High Performance Centre (HPC) clash in the second at the same venue and time tomorrow. Speaking at a press conference yesterday in the boardroom of the Princess Hotel to herald in the final three matches of the tournament, all four captains expressed confidence while being happy to reach thus far in a tournament which saw joint defending champions Barbados and Leeward Islands making their exit at the end of the preliminary rounds.
The Assad Fudadin-led Guyana team topped Group ‘A’ with 12 points, having won two of their three matches with the other being washed out while HPC were second with 8 points achieved from two washed-out encounters and a victory over Windward Islands.
Jamaica, led by talismanic opener Christopher Gayle, ended as the front runners of Group ‘B’ with 14 points after they won two matches and lost the final one to T&T who occupied the second place in that group with 12 points, four more than the Combined Campuses and Colleges who had defeated them in the first round.
Asked to comment on his side’s shaky start in the tournament so far, Fudadin said it was playing on his mind along with the team’s management committee.
“Leading up to this tournament, my opening partner Trevon Griffith and I were scoring a lot of runs and I am aware of the fact that we have not been giving the team the start we are accustomed to during the practice matches.
Everybody in the team, including the coach, knows the position we have found ourselves in, when it comes to the opening pair and I am confident that we will get through this phase, since we know what is required and what needs to be done and hopefully we get it right against T&T today,” said Fudadin.
His opposite number Daren Ganga said his side shrugged off their first-round loss to CCC to win their other two matches, including defeating the powerful Jamaicans by 37 runs in their final preliminary round match, which earned them a place in the semifinals.
While Ganga was elated to be in the semifinal, he is cognisant of the fact that the home team would be a hard nut to crack, taking into consideration the present form they are in, which goes hand in hand with the home advantage they possess.
“It is always a pleasure to be in the semifinals of any tournament and I must say that I am pleased with our performance so far, taking into consideration we lost our first game but were able to bounce back and win the other two.
Going up against Guyana in the semifinal is not an easy task, as they are in tremendous form along with the home advantage they possess. We will not be taking them lightly as we are aware of them playing at home and the impact they would get from the home team support.”
Questioned on the probability of energetic all-rounder Dwayne Bravo suiting up for the Twin Island Republic today, Ganga said same is possible as Bravo only suffered a bruise to his knee which turned out to be nothing serious.
The team is also missing the services of Kieron Pollard who returned home, but according to Ganga, T&T have grown accustomed to playing tournaments without the dynamic duo in the past and this time around it’s no different as it allows junior players to step up and they have been doing that.
Ganga showered praise on off-spinner Sunil Narine who stepped up to the plate with back-to-back five-wicket hauls in the two matches he has played to date, including the prized wicket of Gayle, saying he is doing the job both Dave Mohammed and Amit Jaggernauth have done for T&T in previous years.
Gayle commended HPC for reaching the semi-finals of the tournament, saying he would not be taking them lightly when both teams clash tomorrow, especially with Jamaica looking to win their first title since 2007 when they did so in Barbados.
HPC’s skipper Shamarh Brooks told the press briefing his side has nothing to lose and much to gain and like the other three seasoned teams, they are happy to be in the semifinals while they will be looking forward to facing the Jamaicans tomorrow night.
President of the Guyana Cricket Board, Ramsay Ali, thanked the four captains for taking time out from their training schedule to be present at the press briefing and said admission to the venue for the final three matches would be $1 000.
In an invited comment, ESPN’s Executive Producer Peter Skeete said the experiment carried out by his company to broadcast the Caribbean T20 last year was a success and banking on such, they decided to go with the semifinals and final of the Super50.
Skeete added that should they get the same result in comparison to the one they received for the CT20, ESPN will be supporting future tournaments of such nature in the West Indies, including the CT20 tournaments.