Champions T&T Red Force are weary of a dangerous spin attack when they meet Guyana Jaguars in the first semi-final of the NAGICO Super50 Tournament at the Queen’s Park Oval today.
Captain Jason Mohammed yesterday admitted that his batsmen will have to step-up if they are to defeat the persistent Jaguars and remain on course to retain their title.
However Mohammed appears undaunted by the bowling threat posed by Guyana and says his outfit has adequate “ammunition” to counter Guyana’s spinners.
“I think the batting department is going to be the most difficult part of it. We see that the pitch is spinning a lot and they have some quality spinners but in saying that we have some quality batters in our team as well well,” said Mohammed.
“So I think we have the ammunition to counteract the Guyana bowlers and hopefully we will come out on top tomorrow in terms of the batting and the bowling will take care of itself”.
In the preliminary phase of the tournament, Guyana posted four wins and suffered two defeats while T&T Red Force registered four wins and one loss.
Mohammed says despite their three wicket defeat against Barbados Pride on Sunday, the mood remains high among his players.
“I think the mood is still good yes we lost a game. It’s the only one we lost in the tournament and what’s important we topped the group,” the captain said.
“It’s going to be a tough game at the end of the day we have to enjoy it as cricketers. This is the moment we cherish when we beat the best team and we come up good against the best team and the best bowlers”.
The match will be a repeat of last year’s Grand Final, when the Red Force—inspired by a hundred from Mohammed and spell-binding bowling from Sunil Narine—completed a comprehensive, 135-run victory to take the title.
“I don’t think the guys will be thinking a lot about it (revenge),” declared Leon Johnson, the captain of the Guyana Jaguars.
“I think it will be a negative…us losing last year in the finals to Red Force …but we will probably have it a little bit in the back of our minds”.
Mohammed will be looking to find form to spur his side into the Grand Final on Saturday for the third straight year.
Johnson, his opposite number, will be looking to make his presence felt, after he missed last year’s tournament, due to the West Indies Tour of South Africa.
“We just have to go out and play the game hard,” he said.
“They will have a lot of crowd support obviously and we normally get good support here in Trinidad as well so we are looking forward to a good game”.
Teams
T&T Red Force: Jason Mohammed (captain), Narsingh Deonarine, Rayad Emrit, Kyle Hope, Akeal Hosein, Darren Bravo, Denesh Ramdin, Jon Russ Jagesar, Steven Katwaroo, Imran Khan, Evin Lewis, Kjorn Ottley, Yannick Ottley and Marlon Richards.
Guyana Jaguars: Assad Fudadin; Kevon Boodie; Shivnarine Chanderpaul; Leon Johnson (Captain); Vishaul Singh; Christopher Barnwell (Vice Captain); Raymon Reifer; Anthony Bramble; Steven Jacobs; Veerasammy Permaul; Gudakesh Motie; Paul Wintz; Romario Shepherd and Royston Crandon.