The Guyana Harpy Eagles will begin their pursuit of the Regional Super50 title today against Windward Islands Volcanoes while Combined Colleges and Campuses (CCC) go up against hosts, Trinidad and Tobago Red Force. The matches are being played in Trinidad and Tobago.
Eagles will be under a new leadership with Veersammy Permaul taking over from the now retired, Leon Johnson. Permaul is no stranger to leadership, having functioned in the role back over a decade ago.
The out-of-favor Test spinner will have a plethora of West Indies players at his disposal but for most of the teams, their plans will be on curbing the challenge of powerhouse batters Chandrapaul Hemraj, Shimron Hetmyer, Sherfane Rutherford and Romario Shepherd.
West Indies opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul’s presence at the top of the order provides an imposing authority and with options such as Chandrapaul Hemraj, Tevin Imlach, Kemol Savory and Kevlon Anderson at the top of the order, the batting line up looks promising enough to play right into the game of Hetmyer and Rutherford to explode on the back end of the innings and give Eagles a positive boost.
However, while on paper Eagles seem imposing, only Hetmyer and Hemraj have managed to score centuries at this level. Imlach averages 33 with three fifties from 19 matches and will look to carry on his form from last season into a successful run. Last year, he finished as the leading scorer for Guyana with 268 runs in seven innings. Savory, Chanderpaul and Rutherford are all averaging in the high 20s.
With Permaul’s fellow left-arm spinner, Gudakesh Motie and off-spinner, Kevin Sinclair, in the mix, the spin department is of West Indies quality but their seam quartet of Shepherd, Rutherford, Nial Smith and Quinten Sampson will also provide Eagles a solid bowling line up.
Volcanoes will be no push over with the experienced, Andre Fletcher and up-and-coming talent, Alick Athanaze, as his deputy. Volcanoes will look to Jeremy Solozano, Sunil Ambris, Kavem Hodge and Johnson Charles to bring the heat. With the ball, Shamar Springer and Shermon Lewis are expected to take centre stage along with Larry Edward.
Meanwhile, Guyanese duo Akshaya Persaud and Isai Thorne will suit up for CCC under the stewardship of Bajan wicketkeeper, Shane Dowrich. Persaud is no stranger to CCC, playing for them two seasons ago while Thorne is a West Indies Youth pacer who grabbed 10 wickets in the recent Under-19 series against Sri Lanka.
Also included in the squad are promising teen talent, Jordan Johnson who scored heavily for West Indies’ youth team along with Test seamer, Chemar Holder and Abhijai Mansingh.
The young side will have their hands full batting an experienced Red Force side. With the majority of the side having international experience, Darren Bravo will lead the home team with Test wicketkeeper, Joshua Da Silva providing support as his deputy. The batting line up is bolstered by veterans, Jason Mohammed and Evin Lewis while the bowling department comprises West Indies bowlers, Sunil Narine, Shannon Gabriel and Akeal Hosein.
Guyana Harpy Eagles: Veerasammy Permaul (captain), Tevin Imlach (vice-captain), Kevlon Anderson, Ronsford Beaton, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Shimron Hetmyer, Gudakesh Motie, Sherfane Rutherford, Quentin Sampson, Kemol Savory, Romario Shepherd, Kevin Sinclair, Nial Smith; Ryan Hercules (Head Coach)
Windward Islands Volcanoes: Andre Fletcher (captain), Alick Athanaze (vice-captain), Sunil Ambris, Johnson Charles, Darel Cyrus, Kenneth Dember, Shadrack Descarte, Larry Edward, Kavem Hodge, Ryan John, Shermon Lewis, Jeremy Solozano, Shamar Springer, Tevyn Walcott; Kenroy Peters (Head Coach)
Trinidad & Tobago Red Force: Darren Bravo (captain), Joshua Da Silva (vice-captain), Yannic Cariah, Mark Deyal, Shannon Gabriel, Terrance Hinds, Akeal Hosein, Evin Lewis, Jason Mohammed, Sunil Narine, Kjorn Ottley, Khary Pierre, Jayden Seales, Tion Webster; David Furlonge (Head Coach)
CCC: Shane Dowrich (captain), Kadeem Alleyne, Jediah Blades, Romario Greaves, Chemar Holder, Johann Jeremiah, Jordan Johnson, Kirstan Kallicharan, Abhijai Mansingh, Shaqkere Parris, Akshaya Persad, Shatrughan Rambaran, Demario Richards, Isai Thorne.
