PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Both Jamaica Franchise and Guyana Jaguars will have added motivation to win when they clash in the first semi-final of the NAGICO Super50 here today.
Last year, both teams were good enough to reach the final four of the competition but crashed out as Barbados went on to clinch the title by beating hosts Trinidad and Tobago in the final.
With the disappointment still fresh in their minds, Jamaica are champing at the bit as they chase a spot in Sunday’s final.
“We made the semi-finals last year but didn’t put up a good showing so we’re looking to go one better,” captain Nikita Miller said.
“I think this year it is less in terms of pressure as we have a lot of debutants in the team, and I don’t think there is a lot of pressure on them to do well really.
“We are in a rebuilding process where we are trying to find a good set of young guys to fill the void of the older guys, who are getting ready to move on, so it’s a lot less pressure this year.”
Jamaica finished second in Group B on ten points, behind T&T Red Force who played unbeaten to top the group.
They beat Leeward Islands convincingly by nine wickets in their opening game, went down to T&T by 17 runs in their second match but made sure of their semi-final spot by beating West Indies Under-19s by nine wickets on Tuesday.
And though Miller believes Jamaica are playing the better cricket at the moment, he said his side would be taking little for granted against the Jaguars.
“Guyana’s team is always there thereabouts, in the semi-finals or the finals. They are a lot more experienced than we are but I think we are playing more consistent than they are at this moment,” he pointed out.
“But they are a very experienced team, they have the know-how at this stage which we don’t have or have less of. But it’s a semi-final, it’s a high intensity game and I’m sure both teams are looking forward to this game and are up for it.”
Meanwhile, Miller’s opposite number Christopher Barnwell believes that Guyana are much better prepared this year to reach the final.
He emphasised that once they played strong cricket, it would be difficult to beat them, as they possessed a good all-round team.
“It’s very important for us to reach the final. We’ve got to come out and play good cricket tomorrow,” he stressed.
“We were in the semi-finals last year and were beaten by Barbados so hopefully we can go out and there and play some good cricket. Last year was an unfortunate situation where a couple of our guys were under illness so we couldn’t field our best team.
“This time around we can field our best team so hopefully we can go out and put in a good performance, go one step better and reach the final.”
Guyana finished top of Group A, winning their first two matches against Windward Islands Volcanoes and Barbados Pride, before going down to Combined Campuses and Colleges Marooners in a dramatic finish.
Barnwell said it was important that the Jaguars remained on top of their game, whether they bowled or batted first.
“Guyana and Jamaica are always playing some very good cricket games, especially stages so it’s important for us to go out there and whatever we do first, put up a good total or restrict them, we need to perform well,” he pointed out.
“Once we set runs on the board, they will be under pressure to chase them because with the quality of bowlers in our team we can restrict them. Having said that, if we bowl first, we can put pressure on them from early and a couple of quick wickets up front can set them back early.”
He added: “The guys are performing pretty well but we’re just a bit concerned by the batting department. I think the bowlers have been bowling well and once we’re able to put a good total on the board tomorrow, we will be able to defend it.”
The day/night game bowls off at 1:30 pm Eastern Caribbean time at Queen’s Park Oval.
TEAMS:
GUYANA JAGUARS – Chris Barnwell (captain), Ronsford Beaton, Devendra Bishoo, Anthony Bramble, Shiv Chanderpaul, Rajindra Chandrika, Royston Crandon, Jonathan Foo, Trevon Griffith, Steven Jacobs, Veerasammy Permaul, Raymon Reifer, Vishaul Singh, Paul Wintz.
JAMAICA FRANCHISE – Nikita Miller (captain), Dave Bernard, Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Gavon Brown, Dennis Bulli, John Campbell, Derval Green, Danza Hyatt, Damion Jacobs, Tamar Lambert, Andre McCarthy, Horace Miller, Marquino Mindley.