After a nail-biting win over the Windward Islands in the second round of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional U19 three-day tournament, table leaders Guyana face last placed Trinidad & Tobago from today at the Bourda Cricket Ground as they look to accumulate the points necessary to become the new champions.
The home team sits at the top of the table with 26.3 points while Leewards are in second place with 25.3 points with the third on Windwards 21.8 points, Jamaica fourth on 20.8 points, Barbados, fifth on 12.6 points and Trinidad in the cellar on 9.6 points.
An outright win in this round could see Guyana possibly being crowned new champions.
Led by spinner Steven Sankars’ 5-wicket haul and a brisk 31 from skipper Brian Sattaur, the home side barely scraped across the line in their pursuit of 62 losing 6 wickets in the process against the Windwards on Monday. The Bourda ground, has in the past been known to help the batsmen but should offer some assistance to the likes of Sankar, Sharaz Ramcharran, Balchand Baldeo, Kemo Paul and others.
The Guyana batting has been on and off for the past few matches.
The West Indies U19 pair of Shimron Hetmyer and Tage Chanderpaul are the key to a good start. Hetmyer has already scored a ton while the more classical Chanderpaul needs to come big. Sattaur, who is known for his temperamental attitude will also be called upon to simmer his aggression and play a more sedate role when required.
The middle order will rely on Ashkay Homraj along with Paul, Baldeo and Ramcharran who have contributed nicely in the series thus far with both bat and ball.
Trinidad on the other hand have been playing poorly thus resulting in their bottom of the table placing.
Opener Amir Jangoo who scored a composed century against Barbados to ensure a draw for his team, will certainly be aiming to bow out on a personal high, while his teammates Brian Christmas and skipper Jeremy Solozano are expected to provide additional support to the top order.
From a bowling perspective Samuel Roopnarine, Anderson Phillips, Tevin Jandhoo and others were effective with the ball and should favor the bowler-friendly Bourda ground. In the other matches Barbados play Leewards at Enmore and Jamaica play Windwards at Providence. All the matches will start at 10am.
