President’s Cup Day/Night semi-final begin at 13:30hrs today

Nov 21, 2008 Sports

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Defending champs Jamaica battle T&T in re-match of last final

By Sean Devers
A pulsating re-match of the last regional one-day final is anticipated when defending champions Jamaica face-off with Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) from 13:30hrs in the first semi final of the President’s Cup, a day/night affair at the Guyana National Stadium today.
Arguably the strongest team on paper, T&T, under inspirational Captain Darren Ganga will be out to avenge their 28-run loss to Jamaica in Barbados last year in the inaugural regional final under lights after they had won the first edition of the 2007 competition in St Vincent earlier in the year.
With six players boasting West Indies ODI experience, T&T, (also the defending regional Stanford 20/20 champions) will fancy their chances against a Jamaica team without eight of their most senior players on a track which should be good for batting with some assistance for the spinners.
Seven Jamaicans are with the West Indies team heading for New Zealand while Marlon Samuels is not eligible for selection.
The 29-year-old Ganga feels versatility as a team and the experience of playing under lights are his side’s strengths.
“Our strength is our all-round ability which we have proven in the past. We are a very versatile team with good variety in our bowling and a batting line-up which has players who can be explosive and others who can occupy the crease and build big scores,” Ganga said.

“Most of the pitches here are suited for batting and while we have not played a game at the Stadium we have a good idea of how the pitch there will play from our past experiences at the venue. I think it should be an even wicket with a large and quick outfield. We really don’t have any preferences which team we play in the semi-final but we know that semi-finals are usually your toughest games before the final. I believe if you really want to call yourself champions you must beat all of the opposition in any situation,” Ganga added.
The T&T skipper said that while Jamaica might be weakened by the absence of their key players they are the defending champions and his team will not underestimate them.
This is the second time in the 32-year-old history of regional one-day cricket that the ‘Final Four’ will be played under lights but Ganga says this should not affect his team since all of the players have experience playing night cricket.
“The most recent occasion we played under lights was in the Stanford Super Series last month and we are ready and confident as we aim to stick in another regional title for our country,” said Ganga, who led T&T to victory against English County champions Middlesex in the 20/20 game in Antigua.Tamar Lambert, the Jamaican Captain said the absence of eight top players will hurt any team heading into a major tournament while adding that playing under lights could affect his team somewhat since four players in the squad have never played under lights before.
“It always going to be difficult to lose your eight top players but we have prepared pretty well for this and we understand that whoever takes the field we are playing for Jamaica and we are confident of doing well as defending champions,” Lambert explained.
The left-handed Skipper said that his team has also prepared for the Guyana conditions and introduced five spinners in their last game. “We have prepared for every aspect of this competition and we have a balanced side with many of the guys keen on proving themselves at this level. It does not matter which team we meet in the semis because if we want to retain our title we will have to beat all of the teams at some stage,” Lambert added.
Lambert, like he has done in the past when the senior players were away, has shown astute leadership on the field. He informed that his team was scheduled to have a fielding session under lights at the Stadium last evening.
On the road to the semis, T&T beat the USA, CCC and the Leeward Islands while they had to settle for a point in their washed out game against minnows Canada to jointly finish at the top of the points table with the Leeward Islands on 16 points.
However, a better net run rate gave them the top spot in the semi-final as they hunt their ninth title at this level.
Jamaica, who got past Guyana and Canada and took a point from a washed out game against the USA after their first round loss to Barbados, finished last among the semi-finalists with 12 points and are aiming to clinch their sixth title at this level.
Jamaica, with just two players in their team who have played for the West Indies, could face a tough job against a batting line-up which includes Lendl Simmons (one of three century makers in the competition), Keiron Pollard, Adrian Barath Darren Bravo and the Ganga siblings, Darren and Sherwin.
Without first choice Skipper Chris Gayle, Samuels, Xavier Marshall, Brendon Nash and Carlton Baugh, the Jamaica batting is short of firepower.
Brenton Parchment, who played two Tests, will lead the batting with support from David Bernard (the other player with Test experience in the side), Danza Hyatt, Lambert, Keith Hibbert and aggressive West Indies under-19 right-hander Horace Miller.
The T&T fast bowling attack will be led by Rayad Emrit who played two ODIs in India, Richard Kelly and medium pacer Pollard who took a hat-trick against the Leewards while spinners Amith Jaggernauth, Samuel Badree and Sherwin Ganga should enjoy the conditions at Providence.
Former West Indies under-19 pacer Andrew Richardson should spearhead the Jamaica fast bowling with support from Bernard, Rookie Andre Russell and ex-West Indies under-15 left-arm pacer Krishmar Santokie. Bevon Browne, Yanick Elliot, left arm spinner Lorenzo Ingram and leg-spinner Gavin Wallace, who played for CCC in this year’s first-class tournament, should take care of the spin duties. The Umpires are Golan Greaves and Clancy Mack and admission is G$500 (US$2.50).
The second semi-final between Barbados and the Leeward Islands is also fixed for the Stadium from 13:30hrs on Saturday with the umpires being Norman Malcolm and Clyde Duncan.
The recently formed Line and Length Incorporated in association with the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) will provide live ball-by-ball commentary of both semi-finals and Sunday’s final from 13:00hrs.

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