This evening, one of the oldest rivalries in Regional cricket will again be the center of attraction when the Guyana Amazon Warriors square off against the Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel in the final preliminary match of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 tournament at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.
The last time these two sides met the Red Steel got the better of their opponents winning by three wickets in the early stages of the competition.
Since then, much has happened. Trinidad, who started off poorly, turned their luck around winning their last three matches while Guyana has had some mixed results, a washed out game against Jamaica, a nail-biting win over the St Lucia Zouks and a horrific loss to Barbados on Saturday.
Both teams have nine points.
The Red Steel and the Warriors, as of a few days ago, were both placed at last and second to last respectively but late surges have enabled both teams to climb the point’s ladder.
The Warriors are third despite having the same number of points as Trinidad who are second due to their run-rate.
Since recent conditions have favored the bowlers, this evening’s match should be no different and the current conditions should assist both teams, especially in the spin department. Guyana has the world ranked number two T20 bowler in Sunil Narine while the Red Force will rely heavily on their trump bowler and the number one ranked T20 bowler, Samuel Badree.
Apart from Narine, who has been average but still effective, the two Guyanese top spinners in left-arm Veerasammy Permaul and leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo have continued their brilliant form over in recent matches and should the Warriors play both of them, it will make for a deadly three-pronged spin barrage while local pacers Ronsford Beaton and Paul Wintz could make way for the South African duo of David Wiese and Merchant de Lange.
Weise was sublime with his 5-for against Barbados while his partner has been providing the pace and breakthroughs when needed.
The playing field is quite even from a bowling perspective because the Red Steel also has top-class spinners such as the tall left-arm off-spinner Suleiman Benn, South African Johan Botha and Deron Davis and can evenly match their opponents spin for spin, trick for trick.
Fast-bowler Javon Searles, the legend Jacques Kallis and Captain Dwayne Bravo have been successful and will play crucial roles in the seam department for Trinidad. Likewise, the batting areas for both team’s are even.
Kallis, Darren Bravo who has been in good form as of late, Dwayne Bravo, Cameron Delport, Kamran Akmal and others should provide enough power for the Trinidadians while Brad Hodge, Denesh Ramdin, Chris Barnwell, Lendl Simmons and Assad Fudadin have all been in good form and will need to put in a final performance at home for the betterment of the side.
Given how the pitch has been playing over the past few matches, anything between 135 and 150 will be a huge total to chase.
The two teams are closely knitted as Ramdin, Simmons and Narine are all Trinidadians and though Umar Akmal and his brother Kamran will be on opposite sides, it will be a battle of the world’s top spinners when Badree and his West Indies teammate and countryman Narine look to outdo each other.
If the Red Steel wins this game they will finish top of the table andqualify automatically for the final.
The final four spots have already been decided with defending champions Barbados Tridents, Trinidad, Guyana and Jamaica Tallawahs contesting the knockout stages.
The match is scheduled to begin at 18:00hrs
