Warriors tackle Tallawahs tonight at Providence

Jul 07, 2016 Sports

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By Zaheer Mohamed

Although they are yet to cross the final hurdle, the Guyana Amazon Warriors are the most consistent team so far in the Hero Caribbean Premier League. The fact that they have got off to a dream start in this year’s tournament with successive victories over St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots and Trinbago Knight Riders shows that they are in good form.
Nevertheless they will be counting on huge home support to be successful in their home matches, starting tonight against the Jamaica Tallawahs. Apart from home support the Warriors have a number of quality spinners which will aid in their advantage on a predictably slow Providence pitch. The seamers are quiet capable of varying their pace, but their biggest task will be to contain Chris Gayle.
Like their bowling, the Warriors batting is quiet strong with Dwayne Smith partnering skipper Martin Guptill at the top of the order. On the other hand, the Tallawahs are an experienced unit with the likes of Kumar Sangakkara, Shakib Al Hassan, Andre Russell and Dale Styen.
Speaking with the media prior to a net session yesterday at Providence, home team skipper Guptill expressed confidence of doing well against the Tallawahs.
“There is a very good mood in the camp at the moment; the guys have played some very good cricket, we happen to carry that on tomorrow night (tonight). We are expecting a tough game, Jamaica are a quality side with some quality players in it so we have to be at the top of our game if we are to get the kind of result we want,” he related.
“We have got some good spinners and seamers as well as explosive power all the way down the order; we just have to score one more run than the opposition”.
Gayle once again proved his status as the greatest T20 batsman of all time as he helped the Jamaica Tallawahs to victory against the Trinbago Knight Riders, proving unstoppable with an unbeaten 108 recently.
But Guptill is positive they can contain him. “We look at the way that Trinidad bowl to him and will try to do the opposite really, we have got a couple of plans in place and hopefully execute well. It is a tough wicket, but most of the guys have played here before and they know what to expect so we just have to enjoy the atmosphere,” he said.
Coach Roger Harper indicated that he is pleased with their performance so far. “We did well by winning our first couple of games, but there is always room for improvement, in competition such as this we need to be on top of our game. We know that Jamaica have always proved to be tough opposition for us so we know what to expect. We just have to make sure we keep focus,” he posited.
He noted that the players are in high spirits and it is important for them to work together to improve so they can be more efficient on the field.
Harper feels that the crowd support will be vital for the team. “The crowd here has always been fantastic, I can safely say that we have the best CPL fans, we expect nothing less again this year since they give us that extra boost and help put some pressure on the opposition,” he explained.
The Tallawahs bowling Coach Donovan Miller acknowledged the strength of the Guyana team, but said they are prepared for the battle. “We have to get all the basics right for us to be successful and we will put our best foot forward,” he noted.
Miller stated that he is pleased with what the younger players have done so far and that the preparation has been good. “We just have to go out there and keep it simple as possible. The team spirit is high, we have a lot of dept in our batting so we are not pressured and we need to have fun as well,” the coach indicated.
Batsman Rovman Powell explained that there is no special strategy for the game. “It is about who executes better on the day and we have to adjust to the slow nature of the pitch,” he said. Powell believes the presence of Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara augurs well for the team. “Kumar is an ambassador for the game, he shows us ways and means of how to build an innings and the Caribbean needs more like him to be around.
The game bowls off at 19:00hrs. Teams; Guyana Amazon Warriors; Martin Guptill (Capt.) Dwayne Smith, Sohail Tanvir, Chris Lynn, Reyad Emrit, Adam Zampa, Jason Mohammed, Chris Barnwell, Veerasammy Permaul, Orlando Peters, Assad Fudadin, Paul Wintz, Steven Jacobs, Stephan Katwaroo, Devendra Bishoo, Muhammed Ahsan Ali Khan and Shimron Hetmyer.
Jamaica Tallawahs; Chris Gayle (Capt), Kumar Sangakkara, Shakib Al Hasan, Andre Russell, Imad Wasim, Dale Styne, Rovman Powell, Chadwick Walton, Jon Russ Jaggesar, Andre Mc Carthy, Jonathan Foo, Alex Ross, Kesrick Williams, Nkrumah Bonner, Garey Maturin, Timothy Allen and Oshane Thomas.

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