LCPL cricket: semi-final 1...Guyana’s Warriors face-off with T&T’s Red Steel tonight

LCPL cricket: semi-final 1…Guyana’s Warriors face-off with T&T’s Red Steel tonight

Aug 22, 2013 Sports

By Sean Devers
Guyana are two wins away from qualifying for their second trip to South Africa for the 2014 Champions League as they face-off with Trinidad and Tobago’s Red Steel in the first semi-final of the inaugural Limacol Caribbean Premier League at the Queens Park Oval in Trinidad and a riveting contest is anticipated.
In 2010 it was Guyana who qualified for the Champions League when they upset the home team in the semifinals of the Caribbean T20 in Port-of-Spain, leaving the stunned capacity crowd in funeral mode.
Since then T&T have won every T20 regional title available and will represent the Region in this year’s Champions League for the third successive year after also

Who will move on to the finals?

reaching the final in the inaugural tournament in 2009.
However, this is a different T&T team comprising players from several countries, but unlike the Guyana Amazon Warriors they seem to be struggling to perform as a team despite the presence of some high-caliber players. After their loss in the opening match in Guyana to the Warriors, the Red Steel got their campaign back on track with three-run win when the teams played the return match in the Twin Island Republic.
In that game Kevin O’Brian (70) and Adrian Barath (29) give the home team a 95-run opening stand before Ross Taylor made an unbeaten 39 to lift T&T to 159-4.
Guyana led by an unfinished 60 from James Franklin and 23 not out from Chris Barnwell fell three runs short of the target.
Now for the ‘final four’ stage of the competition both teams will have the services of Sri Lankan players for the first time in the tournament due to the unavailability of the Pakistan players who have to represent their country and a broken hand suffered by New Zealand opener Martin Guptill who played for Guyana.
The host will have Mahela Jayawardene to replace injured South African Davey Jacobs, while Guyana gets fast bowler Lasith Malinga and Tillakaratne Dilshan to replace Mohammed Hafeez and the injured Guptill respectively.
Guyana’s left-arm seamer Krishmar Santokie (14) is the leading wicket-taker in tournament and had bowled ‘dead straight’. Malinga’s pace could be perfect support for him, especially at the ‘death’ while Barnwell and Franklin (the 3rd most expensive bowler in the CPL) will have to improve on their economy rate if Guyana is to limit T&T to a manageable total.
Sunil Narine has been Guyana’s best spinner while fellow off-spinner Steven Jacobs has provided excellent support with the ball.
Guyana’s problem continues to be the batting and apart from opener Lendl Simmons (3rd on the runs aggregate with 218) and to some extent Guptill and Hafeez, no Guyana batsman has managed consistency.
With Guptill and Hafeez unavailable, Skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan who showed glimpses of his class in the Guyana leg of the competition, Franklin, Jacobs, Denesh Ramdin and Narine will be relied on for runs.
On paper, T&T’s batting is very strong with O’Brian, Barath, Jayawardene, Ross Taylor, the two Bravos (Dwayne and Darren) and 17-year-old wicketkeeper Nicholas Pooran all capable of quick runs.
T&T’s bowling will be led by the genuinely quick Fidel Edwards, Kevin Cooper, Dwayne Bravo, O’Brian and Miguel Cummings with spin support from Suleiman Benn, Samuel Badree and Taylor.
Tickets for all three matches in Trinidad have already been sold out and with a venue capable of accommodating the largest crowd in the Caribbean (25,000) a capacity partisan turn out is expected tonight when the action starts at 20:00hrs.
Scattered thunderstorms are forecast for today in Port-of-Spain and if the rain falls it could add to drama since a damp outfield and pitch could influence the decision to bat or field by the team which wins the toss.
The prospects of the Duckworth/Lewis system coming into play increases the Psychological pressure. But T&T’s supporters will be hoping for no rain since a washout will mean that Guyana (by virtue of finishing as the top team in the tournament), will advance to Saturday’s final since no reserve day has been allocated.
Guyana’s Amazon Warriors could hold the slight advantage of spoiling the Trini’s fete in their own backyard with a win tonight.
Jamaica and Barbados square off in the second semi-final tomorrow night at the same venue.