Guyana face toughest assignment today

Sep 12, 2010 Sports

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Battle RCB in their CLT20 opener

The Guyana Amazon Conquerors battle Royal Bangalore Challengers (RCB) from 17:30hrs (11:30hrs local time) today in their opening match of the Champions League T/20 cricket tournament at Centurion in a day/night game and the mental pressure could be the biggest worry for the South Americans.
Sponsored by the Guyana Government, Guyana will depend heavily on their senior players and Skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan will have to lead the batting on the bouncy pitches from the number three position.
Rated as one of the best grounds in the world by cricketing connoisseurs and fans, Centurion is one of South Africa’s newer cricket stadiums. Established in 1986, the stadium has hosted matches in the 2009 IPL and last year’s ICC Champions Trophy final.
The spacious grass embankments offer the perfect setting for families to enjoy cricket and the Stadium boasts a pitch with nice pace and bounce. Coming from Guyana where the ball bounces much lower than it does here and with a capacity crowd of 20,000 anticipated, Guyana’s future in the competition could be gauged from their performance today, regardless of the result.
Travis Dowlin is Guyana most successful T/20 batsman and he will need to fire at the top of the order. Sewnarine Chattergoon is not the most aggressive of batsmen against the new ball but he has played at the highest level and his experience could be needed to partner Dowlin.
This is one of the best prepared Guyana teams and the confidence gained from their victory against Trinidad and Tobago in their last practice game and the tremendous unity shown throughout their unbeaten run in the Caribbean Championship could be key ingredients in their CLT20 campaign.
Sarwan batting through the innings from the number three position will be critical while Narsingh Deonarine, one of four players with Test experience in the side, will also have to step up with the bat.
Chris Barnwell, Derwin Christian and Royston Crandon will also have to dig deep mentally to maximise their natural talent while Jonathon Foo, who celebrated his 20th birthday yesterday will have to continue his sensational senior national career with a big effort today as joins the big leagues.
With Esuan Crandon and Lennox Cush capable with the bat, the Guyana batting is deep and once they can post a challenging 180-plus total the bowling, led by off-spinner Cush with the new ball and leg spinner Davindra Bishoo in the middle overs, will have a good chance of defending it.
Esuan Crandon and Barnwell will need to be consistent and not get carried away with the pace and bounce while Royston Crandon could be the weak link in conditions where his off-spin failed to make an impression when he played for the West Indies last year.
Royal Challengers Bangalore had an impressive third-place showing in IPL and the Bangalore boys have transformed themselves into a mean unit of international stars. Experience and skill give them the perfect combination for success in South Africa.
With a good all-round squad at their disposal, RCB have strength in depth in every department. A world class batting line-up comprising the likes of Jacques Kallis, Rahul Dravid and Ross Taylor is ominous news for opposition bowlers. Add to that the bowling of Anil Kumble, Dale Steyn and Kallis and you’ve got a side capable of beating the best. There is no shortage of quality players – Robin Uthappa and Cameron White’s versatility will also fuel Royal Challengers Bangalore’s CLT20 dreams.
But like Guyana, their bowling could be their weak
link and the Guyanese could hope if their batsmen can capitalize since despite a wide array of talent at their disposal, RCB lacks real bowling potency for at least 8 overs.
Apart from Kumble and Steyn, the Royal Challengers look a little vulnerable with the ball and after a successful IPL campaign, Vinay Kumar’s form has deteriorated drastically and the Guyanese could target the pacer.
In the same manner that Foo will be hoping to feed off the atmosphere and the stars he will play against to launch his career, the trio of Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis is the best set of mentors any side could hope for and RCB’s young brigade will do well to live up to their lofty reputations. The likes of Uthappa and Manish Pandey will have the opportunity to showcase their talent at the grandest stage. The second spinner’s post is up for grabs and the under-bowled Cameron White could have his chance to shine with the ball here in South Africa.
The Guyanese are the underdogs and if a few quick RCB’s wickets fall, panic could step in on the Indian side’s overdependence on their star-studded batting line-up.
There batting is strong but a solid performance from the RCB bowlers led by Dale Steyn will be a must in South African conditions while bowlers Abhimanyu Mithun and Nayan Doshi could be under just as much pressure as the Guyanese.
The Amazon Conquerors have had less than a week to acclimatize to the high altitude conditions here and whether they produce a roar or a whimper today could all come down to self belief and the desire to rise beyond the ordinary to achieve the extraordinary. This is their big chance to shine and all Guyana will be hoping for an upset today. The were buoyed by the defeat suffered by Mumbai Indians in the first round and will look to create a similar result.
Squads: Guyana:-Ramnaresh Sarwan (Capt.), Travis Dowlin, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Narsingh Deonarine, Chris Barnwell, Royston Crandon, Jonathon Foo, Derwin Christian, Lennox Cush, Esuan Crandon, Davendra Bishoo, Steven Jacobs, Assad Fudadin, Paul Wintz, Richard Ramdeen.
RBC:- Rahul Dravid (Capt.), Anil Kumble, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun, Nayan Doshi, Dale Steyn, Manish Pandey, Virat Kohli, Ross Taylor, Dillon du Preez, Balachandra Akhil, Jacques Kallis, Cameron White, Robin Uthappa.

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