A bit of magic and some sloppy fielding were all it took.
So said head coach of the Guyana Jaguars Esaun Crandon yesterday following the team’s 135-run defeat to Trinidad’s Red Force Sunday in the final of the West Indies Cricket Board’s NAGICO Super50 one-day competition in the twin island republic.
“We reached the finals so I must commend the guys, we worked hard but we were a bit inconsistent at times”, said Crandon at the Dr. Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) yesterday morning following the team’s return from Trinidad.
In the regional one-day final at the Queen’s Park Oval on Sunday the Guyana Jaguars managed to restrict the Red Force to 200 despite Jason Mohammed scoring a century.
In reply chasing what was a modest score the Jaguars got off to a good start before Narine’s wizardry completely turned things on its head for the local side who were eventually routed for a meagre 65.
When asked his thoughts on the final and what might have went wrong, the former national player turned coach said: “When we fielded first we restricted them to 200 but we were a bit sloppy, we gave a few chances and put down a few catches which could have made the total a bit different.
“Also, Narine showed his class he was the difference in the match and we can’t take anything away from a world class bowler like him.
“Our game plan was simple. It was to keep wickets in hand and although we started slowly in the semis against Jamaica we had wickets in hand and we beat them easily.”
He pointed out that the tactics for the final carried the same blueprint while the batting order was changed to facilitate the Red Force spinners, Narine mainly.
“We know anything around 200 is gettable. We had a good start and if you look at the batting order it was not a steady order. We made changes according to opposition throughout the tournament. We brought back Griffith (Trevon) in the team then we put Shiv (Chanderpaul) down because we anticipated Narine coming on late but that wasn’t the case,” admitted the coach.
Chanderpaul scored an unbeaten 98 in the semi-finals against Jamaica which took the Jaguars into the final after he opened the batting.
He was the backbone of the team’s batting during the Jaguar’s successful chase as he batted throughout the innings.
However, Crandon has accepted that some amount of criticism will surface due to Chanderpaul being pushed down the order in the final but nevertheless declared that…“When things don’t go right critics will ask `why didn’t Shiv bat higher’ but if we had won, we would not have heard anything.
“It’s a team decision. I stood by it and I don’t regret it.”
Guyana will now focus their attention on the resumption of the four-day tournament which resumes February 8 with Guyana taking on Jamaica in Jamaica.
Crandon said Guyana, who currently sit on top of the points standings will be looking to win the four-day tournament.
“We are missing three established players in Leon Johnson, Narsingh Deonarine and Assad Fudadin and to reach the final of the Super50 with this young team is a big plus for us.
“The catching and fielding was disappointing but we will continue to work hard on those areas during our recommencement of the four-day camp. Our focus is shifted again to the longer format and we hope to continue the good run and win in Jamaica.” With the possible return of Johnson and Deonarine who have just wrapped up their South African tour with the West Indies and Fudadin who was forced out of the same tour win a broken finger but is on the rapid road to recovery, means the Jaguars will resume the four-day competition with a possible full-strength squad, which was confirmed by the coach.
“We will be fielding a full strength team once they (Johnson, Fudadin, Deonarine) are available, as for now the guys have a break and we will resume soon (no date given). We also want to thank Cricket Guyana Inc. (CGI) for support and ensuring that the team was well prepared and we hope for the same support in the future. We also want to thank our Guyanese fans, all our players and our support staff for the support throughout the season so far.”
