BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Veteran left-hander Shiv Chanderpaul has backed the slumping Guyana Jaguars to quickly turn around their form and qualify for the semi-finals of the Regional Super50.
The 42-year-old former West Indies star was speaking after scoring a superb hundred in a losing effort as Jaguars crashed to a 41-run defeat to Jamaica Scorpions in their second match of the tournament at Kensington Oval here Thursday night.
Jaguars are now winless after suffering a heavy 145-run loss to Barbados Pride at the same venue last Tuesday.
“[It’s] definitely [disappointing] but you still have a lot of games in the tournament to play so we have to try and put this behind us as quickly as possible,” Chanderpaul said.
“We have six more games to play, we have to try and play as well as we can and we know we can, win them and hopefully we can still get out on top [of this group].”
Chasing 250 for victory against Scorpions, Jaguars were tottering on 14 for four before Chanderpaul performed a now familiar rescue effort with a brilliant 101 from 96 deliveries.
He staged half-century stands for the fifth wicket with Raymon Reifer (25) and for the sixth wicket with wicketkeeper Anthony Bramble (29), which handed Jaguars a lifeline.
Chanderpaul struck 12 fours and a six but was one of the last four wickets to fall for 19 runs, in a late order collapse.
“It’s a very good wicket to bat on, always batting in Barbados. There’s good bounce, good pace, [and] the ball came on nice,” Chanderpaul explained.
“We lost some early wickets and there were conditions for me to go out and play the way I played. We were taking it easily but it’s just we ended up losing too many wickets in the process.
“If we had wickets at the bottom end we would have probably pulled off the match.”
Chanderpaul, axed by West Indies selectors 19 months ago following a stellar career that saw him garner 11 867 runs from 164 Tests, said he was still highly motivated.
“The hard work you’ve put in over the years, the love for the game, the passion and everything is still there and you want to go out and perform,” he stressed.
“The people in the stands were shouting and cheering you on and you go out there and hope you can give them something to cheer for.
Jaguars face unbeaten Combined Campuses and Colleges Marooners in their third game on Saturday.
