By Rajiv Bisnauth

THE Guyana Amazon Warriors face Jamaica Tallawahs in match nine of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) this evening from 19:00hrs at the Giyana National Stadium, Providence. Both teams could not have asked for a better start to their CPL campaign this year. Both have wins in their first two matches and are occupying the top two positions on the points table with four points each. However, the two teams are separated at the top by their net-run-rate statistics.

The last time these two teams met at Providence, the match was abandoned without a ball bowled. Their most recent face-off at this venue in 2014 was won by Jamaica Tallawahs.
Guyana Amazon Warriors won here back in 2013. Overall, they have gone head-to-head seven times with four wins to Guyana and three to Jamaica. Both were eliminated in the semi-finals last year, and they seem to be equally strong this year.
Both teams are evenly matched and it is very difficult to pick one above the other.
However, the Chris ‘Gayle’ factor is so pronounced that the local franchise must be wary of the threat he poses, largely because the southpaw can cut any reputed bowling attack to ribbons. Of course, it’s a different story when Gayle perishes cheaply.
Gayle is considered the most dangerous cricketer in the world in this format of the game. He underlined his supremacy in the tournament so far with a fifty in the first match and a hundred in the next.
Apart from Gayle, and to some extent Andre Russell, the rest of the players of the Jamaican outfit have yet to fire.
Their overseas recruits Kumar Sangakkara, Dale Steyn and Shakib Al Hasan have not contributed much either.
Speaking at a pre-match press conference yesterday, captain of the Guyana Amazon Warriors, Martin Guptill, admitted that they have plans in place for the Gayle factor.
“We looked at the way Trinidad (Trinbago Knight Riders) bowl at him (Gayle) and try to do the opposite really. We have plans in place, and hopefully we execute well tomorrow (today), Guptill revealed.

He added “The mood in the camp is good, the guys have played some very good cricket for the first two games, so we are hoping to carry that on tomorrow night (tonight), and we are expecting a tough game … Jamaica (Tallawahs) are a quality side, they have some real world-class players within their ranks, so we will need to be on top of our game if we will reap the results we want.”
On the other hand, Guyana have one of the most well-balanced line-ups with both the batting and bowling looking good. What has worked in their favour is that their big hitters like Dwayne Smith, Chris Lynn and Jason Mohammad have found form early which has relieved the pressure on Guptill and given them some sort of momentum.
Their bowlers have shown why they are rated so highly. Both Sohail Tanvir and Adam Zampa have come up with important contributions at crucial moments.
However, the Tallawahs bowling coach, Donovan Miller, during his team pre-match press conference pointed out that it’s quite important to maintain the momentum, since Guyana are a dangerous outfit as evidenced by their early performances.
Miller pointed out that the team were indeed in high spirits coming off of their two consecutive wins in the tournament thus far.
He also stated that he was happy to be a part of the team and is equally happy with the team’s performance in the tournament, lauding the players for their teamwork.