NAGICO Super50 cricket semi-final Jaguars aim to advance to first final in 6 years Face Jamaica in Day/Night semis today

Jan 22, 2015 Sports

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By Sean Devers in Trinidad
In Association with Carib Beer, GT&T
Lifetime Reality & Cascadia Hotel

Since winning the last of their nine titles in 2005, Guyana has reached the semi-final on seven occasions. They have progressed to the final twice while winning Championship honours just once in the last decade.
Since 2009 when Trinidad & Tobago beat them in final, Guyana have never passed the semi-final stage. In last year’s semis they were beaten by seven wickets by Barbados on the back of half centuries from Kraigg Braithwaite (55) and Dwayne Smith (61) and a hostile 4-16 from pacer Fidel Edwards.
Guyana have topped zone ‘A’ in the 2015 NAGICO Super50 tournament after getting past the Windwards and Barbados before suffering an upset loss to CCC in their last match to qualify to face-off with Jamaica today under lights in this year’s semis from 13:30hrs at the Queens Park Oval.
Jamaica have won seven titles but none since 2011 and they will be without Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Tailor, Sheldon Cotterell and Andre Russell who are all in South Africa.
The Guyana Jaguars, the only team with a non-National in their side in Barbadian left-handed all-rounder Raymond Reifer, are without four of their key batsmen for last year’s tournament.
Ramnaresh Sarwan is unavailable, Assad Fudadin is recovering from a broken finger and the left-handed pair of Leon Johnson and Narsingh Deonarine are in South Africa.
In 19 matches between the two teams, Guyana and Jamaica share the win/loss ratio 9-9 with the other match ending in a tie and when the teams last met last year at this very ground, the team from Reggae Country won by 10 runs.
A century from Nkrumah Bonner led Jamaica to 247-7 before they bowled out the South Americans for 233 in 49.5 overs despite an 88-run opening stand between Shiv Chanderpaul (65) and Trevon Griffith (37). Cotterell and Russell both took three scalps.
On a working day here in the middle of the Carnival season the crowd support for non T&T matches should continue to be dismal while the pitch, on which seven matches were played on in consecutive days, could offer more assistance for the bowlers while the ‘dew factor’ could come into play in the Day/Night clash.
The batsmen all struggled to score quickly on the ‘Oval’ track and the only two centuries were scored at the small Shaw Park ground in Tobago (Johnson Charles made a record 177) and the NCC in Couva (Akeem Cornwall made 113).
The only five-wicket haul was achieved at this venue by T&T Red Force’s Captain Rayed Emrit, while Guyana Jaguars left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul had four wickets against the Windwards here.
Today a lot will depend on the 40-year-old Chanderpaul to provide the glue which holds the Jaguars batting together and for Reifer, one of only two Jaguars batsmen with half-centuries in the tournament, to reproduce his second round heroics.
Reifer scored a match winning undefeated 84 against his countrymen, while stylish opener Rajendra Chandrika, who scored 52 in the opening game, is the other Jaguars batsman with a fifty and has looked very accomplished.
The Jaguars’ batting has been plagued by the continued failure at the top of the order by Griffith and the inconsistency of the middle order, including Chanderpaul, who has struggled to score at a decent rate.
Chanderpaul and Crandon are the only players in the team with centuries to their names.
But Chanderpaul’s only ton in 87 matches at this level was made 17 years ago against Barbados in Jamaica, while Crandon’s only hundred was made on debut against the Windwards in Grenada eight years ago.
Steven Jacobs, Royston Crandon and Keeper Anthony Bramble, who made a pugnacious 23-ball 43 against the Windwards, have been inconsistent with the bat, leaving Skipper Chris Barnwell with too much to do although Permaul and Devendra Bishoo has offered excellent support with the bat.
Spinners Permaul, Bishoo, Jacobs and Crandon have been frugal with the ball while seamers Barnwell and Paul Wintz give the Jaguars a potent bowling attack.
The strange decision to use Reifer for the last over instead of Wintz, who had three overs left and 11 needed resulted in the Jaguars’ only loss.
Head Coach Esaun Crandon said he was surprised as everyone else at that decision especially since Reifer had only bowled one over in the tournament before that final one. He blamed complacency in the last eight overs for the loss after the Jaguars seemed to have the game all sewn up.
Crandon informed that Jonathon Foo is still ‘under the weather’ and will not play today.
“Reifer has a slight finger injury, sustained when tried to stop the winning runs on Monday night. He had treatment on his finger today (yesterday) and his injury should not be a major concern tomorrow (today),” Crandon said.
“There are no other injuries in the team and despite the loss to CCC we are in high spirits and confident of beating Jamaica,” Crandon added.
Jamaica’s batting will center round the burly Tamar Lambert, the in-form Bonner, Test batsman Jermaine Blackwood, Horace Miller, attacking left-hander John Campbell, Andrew McCarty and all rounder Dave Bernard Jr.
Jamaica reached the semis by getting past the Leewards and the West Indies under-19s before losing to the Red Force and Bernard should receive pace support from Marquino Mindley but the bulk of the bowling should be done by Skipper and left-arm spinner Nikta Miller, promising leg-spinner Damion Jacobs and Lambert.
The game will be shown live on ESPN TV and heard live on NCN’s Voice of Guyana.
Squads: Guyana Jaguars: Chris Barnwell (Captain), Trevon Griffith, Rajendra Chandrika, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Raymond Reifer, Anthony Bramble, Royston Crandon, Steven Jacobs, Veerasammy Permaul, Devendra Bishoo, Ronsford Beaton, Paul Wintz, Vishaul Singh
Jamaica: Nikita Miller (Captain), Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Dave Bernard  Jr, John Campbell, Danza Hyatt, Tamar Lambert, Horace Miller, Damion Jacobs, Andre McCarty, Marquino Mindley, Gavon Browne, Denval Green, Dennis Bulli

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