Guyana will be looking to build on the momentum gained from their opening round victory over the Leeward Islands when they face off with the Windward Islands today in the second round of the 2011/12 West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) regional four-day competition at Windsor Park, Roseau, Dominica.
In the last 12 months the Windwards have had the wood on the Guyanese in regional competitions as they knocked Guyana out at the group stage of the Caribbean T20 in consecutive years and they won by 4-wickets in this corresponding fixture in the 2010/11 four-day tournament.
Guyana managed to beat a weakened Windwards outfit in the Regional Super-50 held in Guyana last October.
Windwards will also take heart from the fact that in the nine matches played on home turf between the sides since 2000, they have won three and gained the first innings lead in five of the six drawn fixtures.
So although the Windwards were beaten by 4-time defending champions Jamaica by 81 runs while Guyana trounced the Leewards by 234 runs, the return of the much maligned West Indies skipper Darren Sammy to their ranks is sure to make this game a difficult proposition for the Guyanese.
Players to watch
For Guyana the bowlers to watch are the spin duo of captain Veerasammy Permaul and Devendra Bishoo, who in recent years have forged a successful spin partnership, similar to that of Mahendra Nagamootoo and Neil McGarrell before them.
The duo accounted for 15 of the 20 Leewards wickets to fall in the opening game and they are again expected to be Guyana’s main source of wickets.
In the absence of Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (gone to the Bangladesh Twenty20 league) arguably the two most talented batsmen left in the team, Leon Johnson and Assad Fudadin, will be expected to carry the burden of the batting.
Both scored individual half-centuries in the opening round, but most definitely they will need to convert those starts into three-figure scores as Guyana face stiffer opposition in the coming weeks, starting from today.
For the Windward Islands the likes of Sammy, the spin duo of off-spinner Shane Shillingford and left-arm spinner Gary Mathurin along with aggressive opener Devon Smith are their trump cards.
As a captain at the regional level Sammy clearly brings the best out of his teammates and his presence is sure to lift that team. How the Guyanese batsmen play the Shillingford/ Mathurin spin combo will be an important aspect of the match, since they have the ability to both suffocate and run through any batting line-up in this tournament.
Devon Smith, who was dropped from the West Indies last year due to his struggles against the Pakistani spinners during the 2011 home season, scored a solid hundred against the seasoned Jamaican spin duo of Nikita Miller and Odean Brown in the first round.
He faces another spin examination in this match and if he wants another shot at West Indies honours – he needs to keep scoring runs against the multiple attacks in the Caribbean dominated by spin merchants.
WINDWARDS (from): Darren Sammy (captain), Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Lindon James, Delorn Johnson, Keddy Lesporis, Garey Mathurin, Nelon Pascal, Kenroy Peters, Dalton Polius, Liam Sebastien Shane Shillingford, Devon Smith.
GUYANA (from): Veerasammy Permaul (captain), Christopher Barnwell, Ronsford Beaton, Brandon Bess, Davendra Bishoo, Rajendra Chandrika, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Derwin Christian, Royston Crandon, Narsingh Deonarine, Assad Fudadin, Chandepaul Hemraj, Leon Johnson.
UMPIRES: Lennox Abrahams, Peter Nero
MATCH REFEREE:
Patrick Felix
RESERVE UMPIRE:
Erickson Degalerie
POINTS STANDING AFTER OPENING ROUND
Teams Mat Won Lost Tied Draw Aban Pts
Guyana 1 1 0 0 0 0 12
Jamaica 1 1 0 0 0 0 12
Trinidad & T 1 1 0 0 0 0 12
Comb C&C 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
Leeward Is 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
Windward Is 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
