Guyana Amazon Warriors looking to go all the way; Take on Tallawahs tonight at Providence

Oct 03, 2019 Sports

By Zaheer Mohamed

Leaders Guyana Amazon Warriors will be looking to extend their unbeaten streak when they face bottom of the table Jamaica Tallawahs from 18:00hrs tonight at Providence as the 2019 Hero Caribbean Premier League continues.

From left Warriors Coach Johan Botha, Shimron Hetmyer, Tallawahs Coach Donovan Miller and Glenn Phillips.

The Warriors have eight wins from as many matches and their Coach Johan Botha is confident they can go all the way. Speaking at a press conference held yesterday at the Guyana Marriott, Botha noted that they have played really good cricket throughout the tournament.
“Everyone is fit and healthy and we are looking forward to playing at home again which is great. The guys did an excellent job on the road and it’s great to be back at Providence.”
Botha added that the players are supporting each other to do better. “We know what we want to achieve at the end of the day, our aim is to go all the way and now we know which four teams will be there coming towards the end of the tournament, we still want to play good cricket and compete with Jamaica tomorrow (today). They have a good team and things may not have gone the way they wanted, but we still want to keep playing the way we are playing and our guys are looking forward to it.”
The playoffs will be held on Sunday at Providence and Botha added that they will need to play their best team. “It will be hard to play all the guys three games in a row, we saw how hard it was at the start of the tournament when we played three games in four days and the guys really had to dig in against Barbados early on, we need to give the right players a break at the right time.”
Jamaica Coach Donovan Miller stated that this tournament hasn’t been their greatest campaign. “It’s been a tough road, we haven’t played some of the best cricket, and in terms of fitness, at one stage we had six fit players, it hasn’t been the greatest, but we are looking forward to tonight’s game so that we could give the fans back home something to cheer about.”
Miller admitted that they weren’t as consistent as they would have wanted. “At times we had games to win and we let the opposition back in and in this tournament you can’t afford to do that. Once you let the opposition back in and start losing it can become a habit and I think that’s what has happen to us this season,” he added.
Miller said that despite being at the bottom of the table, there are still a lot of positives from their campaign. “If you look young Ramaal Lewis who plays his cricket here in Guyana, Shamar Springer, young Derval Green coming through, those young players getting the opportunity to showcase their talent are among the positives from this tournament.
Tallawahs opener Glenn Phillips said loosing so many matches is this year is a big disappointment. “We would have loved to be on top, but that’s one of the things that happen in sport, sometimes it’s not going to be your tournament. A few things that went on in the tournament didn’t go our way; those things have a big impact especially in T20 tournament
where the margin for error is so small.”
Phillips noted that a win against the Warriors, arguably the best team this year, will do a great deal for the players. “Everyone is a bit down because we had huge expectations at the start of the tournament so a win here will do a lot for us.”
Guyanese batting star Shimron Hetmyer, arguably one of the finest talents around said he wants to play for his team rather than for himself. “I just try to play according to the situation, playing for my team rather than for myself, now I am trying to open up, be more flexible and help the team. It’s always great playing in front the Guyana crowd, knowing that we already qualified for the play offs is going to be even better for us, we just give our best efforts and entertain the fans.”
Hetmyer acknowledged that there is always room for improvement. “I gave away my wicket a few times, so its kind a two way streak as we come down to the latter part of the tournament, I will try to put my hands up and make sure that we take the title this year,” he said.
The Warriors will take on Trinbago Knight Riders tomorrow night from 20:00hrs.