PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC- Defending champions Trinidad and Tobago Red Force are wary 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 here today.
Captain Jason Mohammed has 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 Trinidad and Tobago 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 Finale, when the Red Force – inspired by a hundred from current captain Jason Mohammed and a spell-binding bowling from champion spinner 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 Finale 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”.
Jaguar’s two defeats included a one wicket loss to Windwards Volcanoes in St. Kitts where they played all their preliminary games.
“We are all professionals, we play professional cricket and we should be able to adopt,” said Johnson, as his players shift their focus to the Queen’s Park Oval.
“Coming from Guyana the conditions are similar, probably the Queens’s Park Oval might have a bit more bounce than the pitches in Guyana but it’s not anything we are not accustomed to. We know what to expect”.
The first NAGICO Super50 semi-final between Jaguars and Red Force starts 1.30. Eastern Caribbean time.
