The last time the Guyana Amazon Warriors and the St Kitts Patriots met Warriors skipper Denesh Ramdin struck a match-winning 50 to help his team thump the Marlon Samuels-led team by seven wickets.
The Warriors, with only one win to date, will be hoping for a similar result when the two teams clash today at Warner Park, Basseterre, St. Kitts in a much-anticipated fixture.
In their previous match the Warriors let the Red Steel off the hook when leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo, who had melted the Red Steel’s line up with a four-wicket haul, inexplicably bowled a no-ball off the final delivery, which allowed the Red Steel batsmen one free hit which disappeared into the night sky taking with it the Warriors’ hopes of victory in the low-scoring contest.
The St. Kitts Patriots will look to the players who inspired their defeat of the Barbados Tridents recently.
Those players are form batsman Marlon Samuels, who struck an unbeaten 71 gainst the defending champs while leg-spinners Tabraiz Shamsi and Shahid Afridi combined to take seven wickets between them which inspired a comprehensive eight-wicket win for the Patriots.
With the Patriots seeming as if they have begun to peak and with the Warriors in start-stop mode, today’s match will be an intriguing one.
For the Warriors, Brad Hodge, Ramdin, Chris Barnwell, Lendl Simmons and the others will be needed to get clicking if the team is to post a winning total.
Ramdin’s 50 was his first half-century of the competition but Simmons has not yet fired as we know he can.
Simmons’ partner, Tillakaratne Dilshan has looked a bit scratchy especially after being struck in the face by a short ball from Fidel Edwards a few nights ago.
His ability to bat through the innings will be needed against the Patriots who have a very lethal bowling line.
The Warriors top order is similar to that of the Patriots, experienced, young and aggressive but more likely to implode and the Warriors will obviously hope that they will not be left to rue the fact that Martin Guptill, who once played for them, now plays for the Patriots.
Apart from Samuels, opener Evin Lewis seems to have finally hit his straps smoking 82 to help his team to a victory against Jamaica Tallawahs and while Afridi has not yet fired in a major way with the willow, a few sixes here and there is a signal of his intention to open up sooner rather than later.
Batting-wise, both sides can post 200 if their top bats get going while their lower-order all-rounders such as Barnwell for the Warriors, or Carlos Brathwaite, for the Patriots, can also play crucial roles with both bat and ball.
Bowling could be key for the Warriors today and pacer Ronsford Beaton, who seems to be out of it in terms of his approach, can find himself replaced by Paul Wintz.
Despite not as lively as Beaton, Wintz is a spot bowler and the pitch at Basseterre should assist his ability to swing the ball. The competition has so far been kind to the leg-spinners who have been creating all kinds of worries for the batters and Bishoo has reveled in the conditions.
The recently recalled West Indies Test spinner is the trump bowler for Ramdin overshadowing the likes of Sunil Narine, Veerasammy Permaul and others as evidenced by his figures of 2-13 against the Patriots followed up by his four for against the Trinidad Red Steel.
South African Merchant de Lange has been quick but not effective while Narine and Permaul have been effective and stingy at times.
Samuels will be looking for all-rounder Sohail Tanvir, Shamsi and fast bowler Sheldon Cottrell in the bowling department.
The approach taken by both sides during the first six overs and the last five, will definitely be crucial to the outcome of this game. The Patriots are currently third on the points table with six points from six matches while the two-time finalists are in last place with two points from four games.
They need to win today. It is as simple as that.
The match is scheduled to bowl off at 18:00hrs.
