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Top order changes likely as Guyana face Lions today
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Deonarine suffers ankle injury
After a loss to Mumbai Indians in Durban its now back to Johannesburg for their third and penultimate preliminary round match in the Champions League T20 cricket tournament and Guyana will be playing for pride and their first win in the 10-team competition.
Even if the South Americans win their last two matches in the much tougher of the two zones it is almost impossible for the them to advance to the semi-finals since the unbeaten South Australian Redbacks (who Guyana play on Tuesday) are already in the semis and Mumbai Indians, Highveld Lions and Royal Challengers Bangalore have better net run rates than the Guyanese.
Guyana who face South Africa’s Highveld Lions from 07:30hrs (Guyana time) are the only team in zone B without a win. This is a great opportunity for the players looking to make an individual mark on the competition.
Apart from the classy Ramnaresh Sarwan, all-rounder Chris Barnwell and leg spinner Davindra Bishoo have caught the eye and with another large crowd anticipated today to support the home team in Guyana’s first day match, the atmosphere is expected to be buzzing at the Wanderers ground.
With the two IPL teams out of the way, the pressure of facing big names players should be off of Guyana today and focus will be on the batting order which has posed problems for the Caribbean T20 champions. Travis Dowlin has looked terrible in the first two matches while Sewnarine Chattergoon has also struggled and a new opening pair is likely today.
Lennox Cush, Barnwell or Derwin Christian could be asked to open today on a track which should be excellent for batting and the Guyanese know they need to better utilise the first 6 overs ‘power play’ overs with positive batting.
Sarwan batted well in the last game and will need to again hold the innings together from the number three spot while the struggling Narsingh Deonarine could miss the game due to an ankle injury sustained during yesterday’s practice. A decision on his fitness will be made today.
Jonathon Foo has failed to live up to his high billings in his two previous innings and it is hoped that Coach Ravindra Seeram finally see the wisdom in batting him higher in the order, maybe at 5. Royston Crandon has struggled with the bat while his brother’s big hitting from the Stanford 20/20 tournament has been nullified.
If Dowlin or Chattergoon is replaced by Cush Guyana might be tempted to continue with the three fast bowlers or drop Esuan Crandon or Paul Wintz who made his debut in the last game and include either Assad Fudadin or Steven Jacobs to give the batting firepower.
Guyana’s bowling has been a major worry and if both Cush and Wintz play they could share the new ball while Bishoo who took 3 wickets in the last game including that of Tendulkar could be the one tasked with taking wickets. Bishoo’s confidence must be on a high after Tendulkar signed the ball that dismissed him and presented it to the Berbician.
“W e should make a few changes and we will have a serious look at out batting order since we have not been able to really get going in the first 5 overs and is an area of concern,” Sarwan said.
The team had a long meeting yesterday and they are aware that they have disappointed their many supporters in and outside of Guyana and today a more positive attitude is anticipated at the start of the Guyana innings.
The Lions have a win and a loss and Skipper Alviro Petersen will be hoping for
his batsmen to build a challenging total to set up a victory which will keep their semi-final hopes alive.
Teams from: Guyana:-Ramnaresh Sarwan (Capt), Lennox Cush, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Travis Dowlin, Chris Barnwell, Jonathon Foo, Royston Crandon, Derwin Christian, Esuan Crandon, Paul Wintz, Davindra Bishoo, Steven Jacobs, Assad Fudadin, Richard Ramdeen, Narsingh Deonarine
Highveld Lions :-Alviro Petersen (Capt), Craig Alexander, Shane Burger, Richard Cameron, Werner Coetsee, Cliff Deacon, Zander de Bruyn, Robert Frylinck, Neil McKenzie, Ethan O, Aaron Phangiso, Jean Symes, Thami Tsolekile, Jonathan Vandiar, Vaughn van Jaarsveld
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