Guyana’s Harpy Eagles cricket team will clash with the Jamaica Scorpions today in the CG Insurance Super50 Cup second semi-final for a chance to be in their third final in the last four seasons.
Despite being in four finals since their last title back in 2005, the title has eluded the Leon Johnson-led unit for well over a decade.
Both teams have lost two matches coming into the final stages of the tournament and it is pretty much even-steven as they both possess balanced sides.
In the batting department, Brandon King has carried his form from the Caribbean Premier League and the T20 World Cup into the tournament and has been the most prolific batsman for the Scorpions with 261 runs and a best of 87.
Skipper, Rovman Powell has also enjoyed success with the bat, piling up 216 runs from six innings including a vital 80. However, apart from Nkrumah Bonner, no other batsman has scored a half century.
Scorpions will be banking on the likes of Odean Smith, Chadwick Walton and Andre McCarthy to give them a decent score with the bat if they are to counter the Eagles bowling line up.
Meanwhile, Eagles have nestled safely with their top order producing the goods. Tevin Imlach has been the most prolific scorer for his side with 248 runs including two half-centuries. Ideally, he would be eager to bring up a triple-figure score and see his side into the final.
Anthony Bramble has also utilized his promotion to the top of the order, scoring 152 runs from six innings at a strike rate of 97.
However, Guyana would want to see the established players in Johnson (83 runs), Shimron Hetmyer (90 runs) and Sherfane Rutherford (128 runs) get going in the competition.
Kemol Savory made immediate impact in his two outings scoring 69 and 32 runs so far while Romario Shepherd, Gudakesh Motie and Kevin Sinclair have all chipped in with cameos on occasions.
With the ball, Motie has been the pick of the bowlers with 11 wickets but a change in the venue from Trinidad to Antigua, could be tricky. Shepherd has grabbed 10 wickets so far but all the bowlers have been economical to date.
It would be interesting to see if Guyana will opt for the experienced pace attack led by Shepherd along with Clinton Pestano and Nial Smith and spinners Veerasammy Permaul and Motie.
Scorpions have been heavily reliant on their bowlers to get the job done especially Dennis Bulli who has bagged a dozen wickets from four matches while Nicholson Gordon returned 10 wickets coupled with an economy rate of 5.65. Jevor Royal, Smith, Pete Salmon and Jamie Merchant are also expected to play vital roles if their team is to be successful.
The match will bowl off at 14.00 hours at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua.
