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Lack of urgency cost Jaguars a semi-final spot – Johnson
By Sean Devers in Trinidad
The weather was gloomy as the Guyana Jaguars departed the Hilton Hotel in Port-of-Spain just after mid-day yesterday for the Piarco Airport and their flight back home and so was mood of the players.
Barnwell was the only Jaguars batsman to pass 350 runs.
Foo scored 334 runs for the Jaguars.
At the half way stage of their truncated final round match in the Colonial Medical Super50 Cup cricket tournament against last placed USA, the news of the Red Force’s 10-wicket destruction of the West Indies Emerging Players spread like a wild fire among the Jaguars players and supporters.
The penultimate hurdle to their semi-final match against Barbados on Thursday was crossed and destiny was in their hands to make that final jump to qualification.
Even with three interruptions due to rain which revised their target to 222 from 36 overs, their final leap, though challenging, was anticipated to be accomplished successfully, or so their fans thought.
Even in the last over, with 11 required, hope was still alive.
But that was not to be as South African Rusty Theron in a superb last over, aided by thoughtless shot selection by Ramaal Lewis, give the USA a nine-run win, only their second in the tournament.
Jaguars in the meantime would extend their streak without a 50-over title to 15 years when they try again in next year.
Head Coach Esuan Crandon said he was at a loss for words after the heart-breaking defeat in which Jonathon Foo’s 22-ball 41 kept hopes alive until the final three balls when he was bowled with a perfect delivery.
“The opportunity to win the game was there, I don’t think we played that final over very well, the rain came and took away five o
Jaguars Captain Leon Johnson.
vers from us as well and sent our run rate up from 6 to 7.5 that as well didn’t help the situation,” said a disappointed Jaguars Captain Leon Johnson, who managed just 147 runs at an Average of 18.37.
Johnson noted that there were a few positives that could be taken away from a tournament littered with inconsistent batting.
“The batting of Foo and (Chris) Barnwell were the most positive things for me in this tournament,” said the 32 year-old who played the last of his 15 international matches (nine Tests and six ODIs) in 2016.
Foo and Barnwell were the only two Jaguars batsmen to score over 203 runs. Barnwell amassed 351 with three fifties, an average of 43.87 and a strike rate of 99.71.
Foo made 334 runs with two fifties including an unbeaten 97 with an Average of 55.66 and a strike rate of 133.2.
Chanderpaul Hemraj was the other batsman to reach 200 (202) with the only century by Guyanese. But his next seven innings produced only 98 runs.
“In earlier games, we did well in the later part of the innings, but the lack of intent and urgency in the first 20 overs left too much to do at the back end,” said Johnson as Chanderpaul and Savory had a strike rate of less than 50.
Guyana are Champions of all of the last five Regional First-Class tournaments but when they beat Barbados at Bourda in 2005 it was the last time they had won a 50-overs title.
Johnson, with 13 fifties and a century from 75 List ‘A’ matches, gave his views on why this is so.
“I just think in Four-Day cricket we play a lot smarter and make better decisions than we do in 50 overs cricket, we have spoken at length about it but it’s about execution at the end of the day,” the Jaguars skipper concluded.
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