Guyana hope to extend Mumbai's losing streak to keep semi-final hopes alive

Guyana hope to extend Mumbai’s losing streak to keep semi-final hopes alive

Sep 16, 2010 Sports

By Sean Devers in South Africa
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Despite the experience of reaching the last IPL finals in South Africans conditions, the star studded Mumbai Indians has lost twice and are now almost certain to be out of the semi-final race.
Guyana, who produced an embarrassing display in their first match defeat to the Royal Challengers Bangalore at Centurion, will hope to lift their game today in Durban to extend Mumbai Indians’ losing streak.
The Guyana players were present as South Australia chased down 180 with positive batting to win with 3 balls to spare and hopefully they would have seen the merits of being aggressive.
Guyana faced 65 dot balls in a paltry 103 all out in 20 overs in their opening game and will need to bat a lot better on a track with more bounce and pace than Centurion Park if they hope to keep their semi-final hopes alive. The warmer climatic in Duran better suit the Guyanese who struggled with the thin air and cold weather in Johannesburg and the players are confident that they will play competitive cricket today.
After experiencing what it was like to play in front of a massive crowd in foreign conditions against world class players in their opening game, nervousness should no longer be an excuse and it is now time to show the world that they not only deserve to be here by virtue of winning the Caribbean Championships but that they belong.
The match starts at 11:30hrs (E/Caribbean time) and on a track which should provide assistance for Indian left arm pacer Zaheer Khan and Sri Lankan ‘slinger’ Lasith Malinga with the new ball, the first 6 ‘power play’ of the Guyana innings could be crucial to the outcome of the match.
Travis Dowlin has looked very uncomfortable against the bouncing delivers that leave him while Chattergoon has not been able to utilise the ‘power play’ field restrictions by going over the top for boundaries. Now they will need to give Guyana a good start while Skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan has to try and bat through the innings.
Narsingh Deonarine is experienced but he has struggled for Guyana in T20 cricket this season and could lose his place in the side while Chris Barnwell could also play a crucial role with the bat. A lot is expected of Jonathon Foo, but he is very inexperienced in these conditions and should not be asked to come in with just a few overs left to play a ‘Kieron Pollard role’ while Royston Crandon is one of four players in the side with previous experience of playing here and will need to step up with the bat.

Guyana prepare for their big clash against Mumbai Indians today in Durban

Lennox Cush is a senior player and could be promoted ahead of Derwin Christian while Esuan Crandon will also need to bat with more ‘head’ if the Guyanese are to redeem themselves after Sunday’s showing.
The new ball bowlers and off-spinner Harbajan Singh are Guyana’s main threat with the ball and they must make the other lesser bowlers pay by attacking them from the inception. The confidence to counterattack the big name bowlers in the last half of the innings as South Australia did could be a key factor today for the South Americans.
Cush will need to be economical with the new ball while the gentle medium pace of Esuan Crandon could be mauled by Sachin Tendulkar if he is not ‘bang on target’ on the small ground.
Guyana needs an early wicket, preferable Tendulkar’s and leg-spinner Davendra Bishoo, who looked short of confidence in the first match, must not be afraid to spin the ball against batsmen who grew up on a diet of spin. Barnwell could relish the extra bounce while if Steven Jacobs or Assad Fudadin plays, they could strengthen the weak Guyana bowling. How well part-time off-spinner Royston Crandon bowls will also be critical to Guyana’s chances.
The Mumbai Indians batting is strong but twice in the competition the top order has failed and getting Tendulkar early will put tremendous psychological pressure on the others to follow. Pollard’s power is known and the bowlers must stay away from his hitting zone and bowl ‘back of a length to him. JP Duminy, Saurabh Tiwari and Dwayne Bravo are also dangerous hitters and it is imperative that the Guyanese believe in themselves today and field well.
Guyana are the underdogs and the pressure will be on Mumbai Indians to improve their disastrous start here since mathematically they can still squeeze into the semis.
“We have to win both the games convincingly. Whatever is in our control, we control that. We can’t control how other teams fare but we have control on how we play. We definitely will have to play better. We have scored 176 and 180 runs in both the matches. So we have been batting well and it is actually the fielding and a bit of bowling which is a concern,” Tendulkar said of his team’s chances of still making the final four.
The huge and almost fanatical Indian support expected make the game a virtual ‘home match’ for Tendulkar’s men and Sachin is like a god to his fans which produces plenty of emotions when he plays for his country or Mumbai Indians.
“Well, one does get upset as nobody wants to lose. But then there are days when you try your best and nothing works out. And yesterday (Tuesday) was one of those days. Everyday you can’t bowl four brilliant overs or score a fifty or field brilliantly. Sometimes lapses do happen and yesterday (Tuesday) was just one of those days. Our intention is to win really big against Guyana and see what happens from there,” he added.
Sarwan knows it’s a must win situation for both teams and feels that once his batsmen can deliver his team will be in with a very good chance.
“They (Mumbai Indians) have lost twice and they have to beat us badly to stay in the competition so they will have to take more chances. This is bat against ball and not names. We saw how 12 came off just three balls of Harbajan as the Australians won in the last over and Sachin has not looked in the best of form although he is always a great danger to any bowler in the world. This is cricket and we have to believe that we can win and go out there and play hard, positive cricket and enjoy this whole experience,” Sarwan said.
Coach Ravindra Seeram says the players know what is required of them. “Yes they know their roles and we have a plan. It’s now up to them to go out there and execute it. Forget about who you are playing against and just go out and play your natural game and be confident in your ability,” Seeram said.