… Skipper Bravo says Red Force keen on continuing dominance

By Clifton Ross

GUYANA Jaguars batting coach Shivnarine Chanderpaul said yesterday players are looking to make amends for their batting errors coming out of the previous round, as they prepare to tackle table-leaders Trinidad & Tobago Red Force at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.

Today’s 3rd round encounter shifts to the champs’ backyard where they will be seeking to rebound from their 7-wicket loss suffered at the hands of Barbados Pride in the previous round.

During their pre-match practice session yesterday, Chronicle Sport spoke with the legendary Guyana and West Indies batsman, who highlighted ‘soft dismissals’ as something the Jags batsmen will need to fine-tune.

“You want guys to be more responsible when batting because in the last match we had too many soft dismissals. Hopefully we could correct those mistakes, go to this match and make people work hard. If you get out you get out with a good ball, but don’t give your wickets away,” Chanderpaul charged.

Although Guyana’s batting has been looking promising with a number of half-centuries as well as good partnerships being achieved within the last two rounds, no batsman has scored a century since the season began.

Regarding the conversion rate of batsmen and their ability to make use of their time in the middle and their starts, the ex-Guyana skipper-turned-coach said responsibility and patience were among the areas discussed heading into the third round.

“We spoke about that (conversion); it is one of our plans that batsmen should carry on and make big hundreds. We had starts; we had a couple of fifties in Barbados and a few also in Antigua. I think we were playing a little bit loose so we need to dig in and stretch out the innings to get big scores,” said the ex-Windies Test captain.

Meanwhile, over in the visiting camp, spirits were high as Red Force skipper Darren Bravo said his team were bent on continuing their exceptional batting which has been the franchise’s mainstay over the last two rounds.

The Red Force have been ruthless in their approach of acquiring runs this season, racking up 460 in their first game  and a mammoth 552 in the last round, solidifying their status as the best batting team thus far.

Prior to their final afternoon practice session Bravo, who was one of the centurions in the Red Force’s crushing innings and 168-run win over the Leeward Hurricanes in round two, pointed out that it was important for the team to maintain their good performances.

The stylish West Indies left-hander believed that Red Force were playing, “their brand of cricket”, adding that it has been a while since the Twin Island Republic had been so dominant in 4-Day cricket.

Guyana, meanwhile, will need to up the ante with regard to their scoring should they return to their winnings ways, especially against a batting-heavy side like Red Force.

Also, having slipped to 4th place after finishing round one on top, the 5-time defending champs will want to win this home encounter handsomely and hopefully knock the Red Force off the number one spot which they currently own.

Day One’s action is set to bowl off at 09:30hrs.