ST JOHN’S, Antigua – One of the fiercest rivalries in the regional game will be renewed when early front-runners Leeward Islands Hurricanes and four-time defending champions Guyana Jaguars grab the spotlight in the second round of the West Indies Championship, starting today.

The clash between the two first-round winners here at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground, just outside the Antigua & Barbuda capital, will be the key contest of a full slate of matches.

Jamaica Scorpions and Trinidad & Tobago Red Force, the two sides that were out of action in the first round of matches, due to unavailability of a match venue, will kick off their campaign also today.

Scorpions will be on the road and feature in a contest against first-round losers Barbados Pride at the Three Ws Oval, and Red Force will host Windward Islands Volcanoes, another side that lost in the first round, at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.

Hurricanes vs Jaguars in North Sound, Antigua

Both teams enter the contest with confidence, having won their opening matches of the season.

Hurricanes prevailed over Pride to shoot to the top of the standings, an unfamiliar place in recent years, and narrowly ahead of Jaguars, winners over Volcanoes.

With batting being the key for Jaguars and bowling the strength for Hurricanes, it looks like the match will be ultimately decided on how well the home team’s batting can cope with the varied bowling attack of the visitors.

As one of the two sides that have beaten the Jaguars in the Professional Cricket League era of the Championship – and twice – including a Championship record run chase – Hurricanes will fancy their chances.

The hosts will also take comfort that the last time the two sides played at this venue, they dominated a drawn match.

Pride vs Scorpions in Cave Hill, Barbados

Pride will be stung by their setback in the first round and will be looking to kick-start their season, but this will be the first match of the season for Scorpions and they will be looking to do a similar thing.

History favours Pride in this contest: They have won four of the eight contests between the two sides in the PCL era – including three on home soil, albeit they were all played at Kensington Oval, a few kilometres south from this venue.

The last time Scorpions cracked Pride code however, was four years ago at Kensington Oval, so there is hope for them to break the streak.

Paul Palmer has taken over the captaincy of Scorpions once again and will looking for greater stability from his side than the last time he was in charge.

Both teams look well-balanced on paper with the return of Windies Test opener Kraigg Brathwaite and left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican giving Pride a boost.

With the likes of Jermaine Levy, Chadwick Walton and former Pride batting all-rounder Kenroy Williams in Scorpions line-up and very familiar with the conditions having played competitively in Barbados, the outcome will be decided on the team that harness their talent and hold their collective nerves the best. 

Red Force vs Volcanoes in Tarouba, Trinidad

This will be the first game of the season for the Red Force and they too will be looking to get the better of a Volcanoes side that stumbled in the first round.

Red Force are under new leadership with long-standing leg-spinner Imran Khan taking over from Denesh Ramdin, but they will again be without a number of notable faces for one reason or the other, which has been their challenge over the last few seasons, losing valuable experience to give them the edge.

The home team will relish facing the visitors, considering they have won three of their last four matches against them, including two on home soil, albeit at Queen’s Park Oval in the Trinidad capital of Port-of-Spain.

Both teams are packed with a number of young players and how they cope with the pressure will ultimately decide the outcome.

Squads:
HURRICANES (from) ­– Devon Thomas (captain), Sheno Berridge, Nelson Bolan, Keacy Carty, Rajendra Chandrika, Rahkeem Cornwall, Montcin Hodge, Damion Jacobs, Alzarri Joseph, Jeremiah Louis, Orlando Peters, Akeem Saunders, Terance Warde

IN–Bolan, Cornwall; OUT–Sheldon Cottrell, Daniel Doram

JAGUARS – Leon Johnson (captain), Christopher Barnwell, Anthony Bramble, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Trevon Griffith, Tevin Imlach, Keon Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Veerasammy Permaul, Akshaya Persaud, Clinton Pestano, Romario Shepherd, Vishaul Singh