Coach of the National Under-17 cricket team Orin Bailey has expressed optimism about his side’s chances of winning the Regional under – 17 One-Day tournament even after a win and a loss in the opening rounds of the tournament.
“Yeah, definitely. We are still in with a chance of winning the tournament,” Bailey told Stabroek Sports via a telephone interview yesterday.
Bailey, in outlining Guyana’s blueprint for winning tournament, places emphasis on taking it one game at a time beginning with Guyana’s game against host Trinidad and Tobago, today.
“We need to take it one game at a time and things will look a lot better for us if we can win against Trinidad today. The key for us to capitalize on getting our bonus points.”
Guyana’s batting, according to the man in charge, is his biggest worry as he hopes for a turnaround in the games to follow if the South Americans are to win their first Regional under-17 title.
“Our batting is really letting us down and we need these guys to stand up and bat responsibly,” he added.
Guyana lost their first match of the tournament by 19 runs after their batters were unsuccessful in pursuit of 124 set by the Windward Islands.
Guyana endured a dismal effort and was bundled out for 105 in 45.2 overs. Kevlon Anderson, however, enjoyed a good match after he grabbed 5-35 and then returning with the bat to score 27 in Guyana’s unsuccessful run chase.
Guyana, however, rebounded well to defeat the Leeward island by two runs via the DWL method in their second round encounter.
Guyana reached 71-1 in 21 overs with Sachin Singh contributing 37 not out while Junior Sinclair supported with an unbeaten 21. The target, however, was revised where the Islanders were set 140 from 21 overs. They subsequently fell short by two runs after left-arm spinner Kelvin Umroa bagged 5 – 26 from five overs.
