ST JOHN’S, Antigua- Trinidad & Tobago Red Force will begin the second round of matches in the West Indies Championship holding a narrow 0.6-point lead over the Jamaica Scorpions after an exciting start to the competition.
The Red Force, who are chasing their first title in 20 years, thrashed the Leeward Islands by an innings and 271 runs in their opening match at the Coolidge Cricket Ground, earning 22.6 points, including six bonus points.
The Jamaica Scorpions, following a thrilling final-day chase against Barbados Pride, sit second on 22 points, while defending champions Guyana Harpy Eagles are third with 21.4 points.
The Red Force squad remains unchanged for the second-round clash. However, despite their dominant win over the Hurricanes in the opening game, captain Joshua Da Silva has called for greater intensity and ruthlessness as they prepare to face their next opponents at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
“We are looking to improve as always because we dropped a couple catches in the opening game and we want to tighten that up. The start was good from the openers, but I would love for them to carry on, especially with the fact that we struggled with an opening partnership last year, but I’m happy with how we started this tournament.”
The Hurricanes made two changes to their squad with Kofi James and Carlon Bowen-Tuckett replacing Nathan Edward and Daniel Doram respectively.
The chance to improve and regain their push for a spot in the playoffs is at the forefront of the mind of Steve Liburd, the head coach of the Leeward Islands Hurricanes.
“It is a three-match series, and we are looking to bounce back and win the game. On reflection we had very good conversations with the players in our different groups about finding different ways we can come back into the series.”
Meanwhile, in Kingston, the Jamaica Scorpions fresh off their first victory over Barbados Pride in a decade are eager to maintain their momentum as they prepare to face their opponents at Sabina Park.
Barbados Pride have strengthened their batting lineup with the return of West Indies Test captain Roston Chase, who boasts 11 centuries at this level, replacing Shian Brathwaite.
Head coach Vasbert Drakes, while acknowledging Jamaica’s success, says his team is determined to bounce back and is hunting redemption.
“Jamaica read the conditions perfectly and played an outstanding fourth innings to chase down the total, but we are happy to be in this situation where we took the learnings from the last game,” Drakes said. “It’s a totally different wicket at Sabina Park and totally different environment, and I think everyone will be on a level playing field.”
Meanwhile the Guyana Harpy Eagles will see the return of Shamar Joseph into their squad as they aim for consecutive wins against the Windward Islands Volcanoes at the iconic Antigua Recreation Ground.
This will be the first regional game to be hosted there since 2009, and the Harpy Eagles want to make a statement as they hunt a fourth straight crown according to captain Tevin Imlach.
“We did a lot of good things in the back end of the last game, I feel like it will give us some momentum going into this encounter, even though it is a different pitch which is known to be flatter. So, it is important that our batters put up their hands and be better in the field after missing a few chances.”
Kenroy Peters, the head coach of the Windward Islands Volcanoes is backing his players to fight to the end against the perennial winners with Johann Jeremiah replacing Teddy Bishop.
“We all know Guyana might be the better the team in this format but despite losing, we still had periods where we did well, but we failed to capitalize and maintain pressure for longer periods,” Peters explained. However, this time around we are looking to correct areas where we are dominating to stay on top, and if things are not going our way, we need to be patient and have better execution while sticking to our plans.”
All the matches bowl off at 10am local time.
West Indies Championship Second Round:
Leeward Islands Hurricanes vs Trinidad & Tobago Red Force @Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
Jamaica Scorpions vs Barbados Pride @Sabina Park
Windward Islands Volcanoes vs Guyana Harpy Eagles @Antigua Recreation Ground.
