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– TKR, Tallawahs lock horns in opener
By Clifton Ross
FRESH off their thumping come-from-behind win on Sunday night, Guyana Amazon Warriors will enter another must-win battle today; this time against defending CPL champions Barbados Tridents in what could be another firecracker under lights at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy ground.
After a few mixed outings, the Warriors went from the most under-pressure team this season, given their stardom and CPL record to the seemingly hungriest team on show. Up until a few nights ago, Chris Green and his men have been enduring a yo-yo season and one which has been plagued most by shoddy batting.
The savoir of the woeful batting performances was Shimron Hetmyer, who had been fetching the team on his back for a few rounds with a couple of fifties, before he too seemed to be running a bit cold with the blade.
However, the occurrences of Sunday night was a clear reminder that no team should underestimate the prowess and unpredictability of the former 5-time finalists. After hitting 68 and then throwing the game away a few rounds back, Nicholas Pooran made amends for his misfortunes in the past and hammered his way into the top player ranks this season.
The West Indies left-hander smoked 10 sixes and 4 fours in his 45-ball whirlwind, unbeaten ton which helped Guyana to much-needed 7-wickets win. His 128-run stand for the 4th wicket with Ross Taylor, who ended with with 25 not out off 27 balls including 6; broke the backs of their opponents while giving them the desired impetus needed ahead of this evening’s duel.
Warriors enter the match as clear favourites, especially after the one-man show by Pooran who has now passed Hetmyer as the team’s leading run-scorer and second in the tournament with 206 runs; trailing Jamaica Tallawahs opener Glenn Phillips by a mere 1 run.
The champs on the other hand, will be gunning to break their recent string of losses and get back to their winning ways should they seek to reclaim their title. After Raymon Reifer failed to defend the final over which was in favor of thse champs versus Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR), resulting in Kharry Pierre seeing his team over the line yet again; the Tridents then suffered an even more embarrassing loss at the hands of the St Lucia Zouks on Sunday.
Barbados failed miserably to attain the low target of 93 set by their opponents, eventually being ripped apart for a paltry 89-7 when their 20 overs expired. Such bad luck has put Jason Holder under a bit of pressure, given his team has now replaced the Warriors by dropping to second-to-last place on the table.
Chris Green and his men as a result of their scorching win on Sunday, regained some of their glow, shooting back up to 3rd place behind the Zouks who have moved up to 2nd with ‘Bubble’ hosts, the unbeaten TKR sitting pretty in the number one position.
Batting will play another huge role again for the Warriors as Pooran will be keen on continuing his form along with Hetmyer and Taylor who are the team’s regular contributor of runs during the recent days. Chandrapaul Hemraj got the axe last game in place of all-rounder Kevin Sinclair, who returned 1-9 from 4 overs before being promoted as Brandon King’s partner at the top.
Although Sinclair managed just 5, his approach could warrant another match while King will need to break his string of low scores and regain some confidence. The all-rounders in Keemo Paul, Romario Shepherd and Sherfane Rutherford remain x-factors namely because of their West Indies experience and their capability of going berserk with the bat.
Tridents have been similar to the Warriors in their batting approach this season, as a number of star player; the likes of Shai Hope, Johnson Charles, Kiwi Corey Anderson (who has one of the fastest ODI hundreds in history) and Kyle Mayers; who kicked off the season in nice form; have yet to discover their true form but could flip the switch on the Warriors tonight.
Bowling-wise, both franchise are evenly poised and tonight’s match could be a battle of the World-class leg-spinners in Tridents Rashid Khan and Warriors Imran Tahir. Windies leg-break spinner Hayden Walsh Jr. is fresh off a 3-fer and could add nicely to the Ashley Nurse/ Khan combo.
Reifer remains a key bowler for the Tridentss but his horror last over versus TKR will play on his mind today. Holder has been decent as leader of the pace attack but Guyana’s variety in their attack like Naveen Ul Haq and Paul will be keen on recording another win.
At this point, both sides can ill afford to lose another battle; Guyana especially are keen on breaking the CPL cure while the Tridents will want to get themselves back into a position of completing a successful title defense. Match bowls off at 17:30h.
