Guyana Jaguars captain, Leon Johnson has described team’s performance with the bat in their most recent four-day match against the Barbados Pride as “woeful,” and not a reflection of their abilities.
Heading into the eighth round in second place and in a top-of-the-table clash with the Barbados Pride, the Guyana Jaguars lost their grip on the West Indies Championships after being bowled out for 55 and 94, suffering a 235-run loss in the process at their home office the Providence National Stadium.
Quizzed on what went wrong Johnson said, “Batting obviously, 55 and 94 not a very good reflection of our capabilities… I think the batting was woeful.”
The 31-year-old, who is the Jaguars’ leading batsman with 472 runs, said that they now have an uphill task of making it six straight title triumphs.
“In the last two matches we just have to go out and play good cricket, I don’t think the result of the championships is in our hands, I think they need to lose their two matches convincingly and we need to win ours convincingly.”
Pride took away 18.8 points from the match to take their total to 134.8 and remain at the top of the table.
Jaguars, now in third place, trail Pride by 43.3 after taking only six points from the match to end the eighth round with 91.5 points.
The defending champions were knocked out of second place by Trinidad and Tobago Red Force who took away 22.4 points from their win over Windward Islands Volcanoes to move into second with 94.6 points.
Nevertheless, the left-hand batsman credited his bowlers for their efforts, reckoning that it was “excellent” to bowl out Pride for 174 and 210.
The captain praised Keemo Paul, who took seven wickets in the match for his performance and consequently leading the seamers to a total of 15 wickets which translated to three points.
In addition to the pacers, left-arm spinner, Veerasammy Permaul, who took one wicket in the match became the first bowler this season to reach 50 wickets.
The tournament has taken a month’s break due to the Coronavirus outbreak but when it resumes, Jaguars will have to face Volcanoes and Red Force in their remaining matches.
