… Permaul, Smith feature  in the top-10 bowlers

By Clifton Ross

WITH the 2020 Regional 4-Day tournament at the half-way stage, defending champions Guyana Jaguars have been making individual strides as a number of their players top the stats in both the batting and bowling charts.

Round 5 bowls off today with three matches and looking at the top-performers to date, the Jags despite being in second place have still managed to make an impact in both departments; as a number of their stars were able to break into the top-10 ranks for bowlers and batsmen.

With hundreds seemingly hard to come by this year, Jaguars batsmen have failed to register a triple-digit score to date. Despite three of their batsmen being featured in the top-10 run-getters list following the end of 4 rounds, it is likely that they could wrap up the season among the top overall performers.

All-rounder Chris Barnwell, who has been one of Jags best batsmen since the Super50 last year, leads with 265 runs from the 4 rounds played. The ex-West Indies T20 all-rounder hit 2 half-centuries with a top score of 82 and currently sits in 5th place for the most runs scored to date.

Sixth place goes to gritty opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul who comes in a run behind his teammate with 264 points. Chanderpaul has crafted three 50-plus scores and averages a healthy 44.00 but will need to up his strike rate as he advances.

The last Guyanese to feature in the top-10 is left-hander Chandrapaul Hemraj who currently owns the number 8 position. The Windies Test opener has a pair of fifties to his name and with his record of more than 600 runs under his belt a few seasons ago; he could easily end this season as one of the leading run-getters for his country and possibly the League.

Meanwhile, tournament table-leaders Barbados Pride also occupy the number one spot with regard to batting, as middle-order batsman Kyle Mayers sits comfortably with 361 runs, averaging a whopping 60 with four half-centuries and a hundred.

While the batting has been mixed, Jaguars basically own the bowling department with the wily Veerasammy Permaul bagging truckloads of wickets as the rounds progress.

The left-arm spinner sits comfortably at the top of the hill with 26 victims with a best of 6-50 from 4 games. The Guyanese is followed by second place Akeal Hosein (20 wickets) of the Trinidad Red Force as the only two bowlers, most notably spinners with more than 20 wickets so far.

Permaul,, who currently averages a stingy 11.57, crossed the 500-wicket mark a few rounds ago, and  is one of 2 bowlers (Barbados Pride pacer  Chemar Holder 3rd place 19 wickets), who have 10-wicket hauls this season.

Arguably one of the fastest and more effective pacers this season, newbie Niall Smith is Guyana’s next best bowler behind Permaul in 4th place with 18 wickets including two 5-wicket hauls with a best of 5-87. Jags senior pacer Keon Joseph missed the top-10 ranking, coming in at 11th place with 11 wickets.

The race for the best individual performers is the next best thing to winning the championship and given the slight equilibrium with top performers in both departments, Jaguars will not only be aiming for their 6th title but also having a number of their players finish in the upper ranks of the runs/wickets contributors; over the course of the remaining 5 rounds.