Can Georgetown repeat as champions?
WHEN they met in a second round encounter, defending champions Georgetown came away with a nine-run victory on the Duckworth/Lewis system over their nemesis East Coast, courtesy of some dubious umpiring decisions.
But what may be lingering on the minds of many fans who have been following this year’s tournament from the first-round match right up to today’s final at the Malteenoes Sports Club ground is whether or not Georgetown can repeat as champions?
The team is a fairly balanced one, but beyond a shadow of a doubt, coach Garvin Nedd seems to be unaware of the potential of a few of his players.
It was at the same venue as today’s final, when they met in the second round encounter where East Coast’s pugnacious opening batsman and skipper Brian Sattaur waded into the defending champions’ bowling on his way to a 40-ball 47 that included eight fours and one six.
But the introduction of spin, did not only unsettle Sattaur, but also placed Georgetown in a positive position to press for their victory (even though they got there in the end), until Kamesh Yadram who is a positive player of spin joined Vivian Albert.
That was the time when Nedd, who was a fearful off-spinner back in his heyday, should have re-introduced the lively Dorian Best into the attack, but instead he opted for the part-time spin of Andrew Gibson which helped East Coast wiped off 12 of their runs in his lone over.
How he handles his peers, who had a practice session at the venue following East Bank’s no-show for their final preliminary round match yesterday, is left to be seen but what is certain is he hopes a few of his players walk with their ‘A’ game today.
Tagenarine Chanderpaul led all scorers with his unbeaten 60 in that game while Vishal Narayan contributed 43, but what Nedd would be hoping to see today is the coming to the party of the dependable middle order batsman Terrence Alstrom and Gibson.
These two had been churning out partnerships in last year’s Guyana Cricket Board-sponsored Inter-district Under-15 competition, but yet to do so for Georgetown and what better time than today, especially with their opponents’ batting lineup that is being led by Sattaur.
With a support cast that includes, Chanderpaul, Narayan, Martin Bell, Prince Roberts and skipper Pravindralall Persaud, Nedd will be hoping they get a score within the vicinity of 225 to 240, for his bowlers led by Best and including Narayan, Kumar Singh, Dexter George, Steven Sankar, vice-captain Devon Lord, to have a go at.
But they will be doing such against Sattaur and Albert, with the former already inking his name on the best batsman trophy (if there was one up for grabs), as well as the mind of the selectors with amicable support from Yadram.
If this trio can get things going for East Coast, the question will definitely be: ‘Can Georgetown retain their title?’
The answer will be known at the MSC, Thomas Lands ground, sometime around 17:30 h this afternoon when the championship trophy minus any cash incentive will be presented to the victorious skipper.