Jaguars and Pride hunt for points intensifies

Feb 06, 2020 Sports

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ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – There are three compelling rivalries in the fourth round of matches of the West Indies Championship, which resumes today following a two-week break.
With a mere 0.2 points separa

ting them at the top of the table, long-standing foes Guyana Jaguars and Barbados Pride will face awkward opposition in their hunt for a bag of points to put light between each other.
Jaguars, the five-time defending champions and current table leaders, will be on home soil at the Guyana National Stadium, when they face Jamaica Scorpions, a side that have shown a penchant this season for coming from behind to save matches.
Second-placed Pride, runners-up to the Jaguars in each of their title-winning seasons, will be on the road at Warner Park, where they are hosted by a Leeward Islands Hurricanes side that shrugged off a slow start to the season to win in their previous match. And, the return to the Championship of the decorated pair of Andre Fletcher and Denesh Ramdin will further flavour an already fierce contest at Windsor Park between hosts Windward Islands Volcanoes and the visiting Trinidad & Tobago Red Force – two teams in the middle of the table with 0.2 points also separating them.
Jaguars vs Scorpions in Providence, Guyana
Jaguars returned to the top of the table following their third-round win on home soil over Red Force and Scorpions stumbled to their first defeat against Pride in the previous round, after twice batting from behind to earn draws. But if there was one team that the Jags would relish playing at this stage to put the pressure on the chasing pack, it would be the Scorpions. The Jaguars have won all but one of the 10 matches the two teams have played in the PCL era of the Championship, including all five matches at the venue for this weekend’s contest. Scorpions can take heart in their eight-wicket victory on home soil in February last year and their seeming “backs-to-the-wall” batting this season to give them a bit of hope that they can resist their opponents, but it will be a huge task. Jaguars welcome the return of left-handed all-rounder Raymon Reifer to give a boost to their batting and bowling. Scorpions have been weakened from the previous round with the loss of the batting talents of Brandon King and Rovman Powell to the imminent West Indies Tour of Sri Lanka.
The Jags are a settled and confident unit that know their strengths and weaknesses, but the Scorpions rebuild continues and they will require their handful of senior players, especially in the batting, to show greater stability to be able to slow down, if not stop, the home team. A number of players stand on the threshold of personal milestones which could be accomplished in the match, if they are selected: Devendra Bishoo (Jaguars) has taken 243 Championship wickets and needs seven more for 250; Jermaine Blackwood (Scorpions) has scored 2,942 Championship runs and needs 58 more for 3,000; Keon Joseph (Jaguars) has taken 90 Championship wickets and needs 10 more for 100; Veerasammy Permaul (Jaguars) has taken 445 Championship wickets and needs five more for 450; and Vishaul Singh (Jaguars) has scored 2,976 Championship runs and needs 24 more for 3,000.
Squads: JAGUARS (from): Leon Johnson (captain), Christopher Barnwell, Devendra Bishoo, Anthony Bramble, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Chanderpaul Hemraj, Tevin Imlach, Keon Joseph, Veerasammy Permaul, Raymon Reifer, Kevin Sinclair, Vishaul Singh and Nial Smith. IN-Reifer; OUT–Ronaldo Alimohamed.
SCORPIONS (from): John Campbell (captain), Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Assad Fudadin, Derval Green, Patrick Harty Jr, Jamie Merchant, Marquino Mindley, Nicholson Gordon, Paul Palmer Jr, Pete Salmon, Denis Smith and Oraine Williams. IN–Fudadin, Salmon; OUT–Brandon King, Rovman Powell.
UMPIRES: Zahid Bassarath (Trinidad & Tobago), Deighton Butler (St. Vincent & the Grenadines)
MATCH REFEREE: Colin Stuart
RESERVE UMPIRE: Ryan Banwarie
Hurricanes vs Pride in Basseterre, St. Kitts
After starting the season with a loss, Pride moved to within touching distance of the top of the table, after back-to-back wins over the Jaguars and Scorpions in their two previous matches. Hurricanes got a timely boost of confidence with a comfortable victory over Volcanoes in the third round, after opening with two losses.
This could prove to be the clichéd banana peel for the Pride. Though they have won six of the 10 matches between the two sides in the PCL era, Hurricanes have given proof that they cannot be taken lightly, twice going onto their opponents’ turf and clobbering them. The two sides also return to the venue, where the Hurricanes will have fond memories of narrowly failing to pull off a thrilling heist, when they were set a victory target of 312 in the 2017-18 season and their slow bowling duo of West Indies off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall and Jamaican leg-spinner Damion Jacobs have made it difficult for opposing batsmen. On a pitch that is typically tailor-made for batting, it should be hard work for the bowlers, but it is an opportunity for the batsmen on both sides to make a big impact.
Squads: HURRICANES (from): Jahmar Hamilton (captain), Colin Archibald, Sheno Berridge, Quinton Boatswain, Rahkeem Cornwall, Nino Henry, Montcin Hodge, Damion Jacobs, Amir Jangoo, Jaison Peters, Kieran Powell, Devon Thomas and Terance Warde. IN–Henry, Warde; OUT–Keacy Carty, Alzarri Joseph.
PRIDE (from): Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), Camarie Boyce, Shamarh Brooks, Jonathan Carter, Shane Dowrich, Dominic Drakes, Justin Greaves, Keon Harding, Chemar Holder, Kyle Mayers, Shayne Moseley, Ashley Nurse and Kevin Stoute.
IN–Boyce, Drakes; OUT–Kemar Roach, Jomel Warrican
UMPIRES: Patrick Gustard (Jamaica), Lyndon Rajkumar (Trinidad & Tobago)
MATCH REFEREE: Stewart Rawlins
RESERVE UMPIRE: Bernard Joseph
Volcanoes vs Red Force in Roseau, Dominica
Fletcher, who has played 25 One-day and 42 Twenty20 Internationals for West Indies, has not played in the Championship since he made 13 and five for the Volcanoes against the Jaguars almost three years ago at the Guyana National Stadium. Ramdin, a veteran of 74 Tests, 139 ODIs and 71 T20Is for West Indies, was the Red Force captain last season and led their batting aggregates, but he has not played a match this season. They will replace Sunil Ambris and Darren Bravo, the players that led the respective teams in the previous round. They too, will be missing this weekend because of the imminent West Indies Tour of Sri Lanka, with the captaincy duties falling to Kavem Hodge for Volcanoes and Yannick Ottley for Red Force.
Squads: VOLCANOES (from): Kavem Hodge (captain), Alick Athanaze, Roland Cato, Keron Cottoy, Andre Fletcher, Ray Jordan, Shermon Lewis, Desron Maloney, Preston McSween, Shane Shillingford, Devon Smith, Emmanuel Stewart and Josh Thomas. IN–Cato, Fletcher, Shillingford; OUT–Sunil Ambris, Kirk Edwards
RED FORCE (from): Yannick Ottley (captain), Yan­nic Cari­ah, Bryan Charles, Joshua da Sil­va, Ter­rance Hinds, Akeal Ho­sein, Kissoondath Magram, Jason Mohammed, Uth­man Muhammad, Denesh Ramdin, Kea­gan Sim­mons, Je­re­my Solozano and Daniel St. Clair. IN–Ramdin, St. Clair; OUT–Dar­ren Bra­vo, Odean Smith
UMPIRES: Johnathan Blades (Barbados), Christopher Taylor (Jamaica)
MATCH REFEREE: Reon King (Guyana)
RESERVE UMPIRE: Ericson Degallerie

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