As the Guyana Amazon Conquerors, today take on the Mumbai Indians, internationally renowned Guyanese cricket coach Roger Harper says he believes they are capable of playing much better cricket than they did at their last game on Sunday, where they suffered a distressing loss to the Bangalore Royal Challengers.
While he declined to make any substantial comment on the team’s chances, Harper shared his assessment of their first performance, saying he believes they were a bit dazed. He also expressed his confidence that the Conquerors can definitely play better in their next match.
“In their game against Bangalore they looked shell-shocked, but they are capable of playing much better cricket and I expect them to give a much better account of themselves at this next game,” Harper said.
In their match on Tuesday against Bangalore, the Conquerors failed to show their batting strength, squeezing a mere 103 runs from their 20 overs, while the Challengers quickly achieved their required runs in 12.2 overs with 9 wickets to spare.
With the terrain and climate conditions in South Africa working against the Conquerors, the main concern is if they have adapted enough to make a comeback against Mumbai.
Moreover, having already suffered losses in their two matches to date, the Mumbai Indians will no doubt be hungry for a victory to edge their way into the semi-finals.
Mumbai commenced the tournament with an astounding loss to South Africa Highveld Lions on Friday, and spiralled further downward with a loss to South Australia Redbacks on Tuesday. The destiny of the Indians now hangs in the balance. A loss will crush their chances of moving on to the semi-finals. Whether their two losses will demoralize the team to the advantage of the Conquerors or propel them to an avenging rampage will be seen today when the two meet at the Durban Stadium.
Should the Conquerors suffer another loss, they will need to pull off two consecutive wins in their following matches against the Lions on Sunday and the Redbacks two days later.
