At the conclusion of five captivating rounds of the annual West Indies Cricket Board Professional Cricket League (PCL) regional four-day tournament, defending champion Guyana Jaguars sitting comfortably second on the points table.
Having looked at the tabulation, the Guyanese have 64.6 points sharply behind Jamaica Scorpions who are on with 67.6 points but nothing daunting for the Jaguars who can still emerge as champion when the season wraps up next year.
Their auspicious start to the third campaign should have provided enough impetus to lurch to the third consecutive PCL title.
In every department of the game, the men from the land of many waters sparked
The Guyana Jaguars were on the hunt against Trinidad and Tobago Red Force and eventually got maximum points
very well.
Batsmen continued to dominate while the bowlers churned out great performances to demonstrate the kind of consistency required.
When they opposed another regional giant side Jamaica Scorpions on home soil, Guyana Jaguars inflicted a solid thrashing on them by 181 runs. They immediately proved their regional superiority.
But things went gloomy with the shock and upset defeat at the hands of Leeward Islands Hurricane on a placid Warner Park pitch.
The Hurricanes lads were stifling to save the match but the batting clicked under challenging circumstances to come out on top winning by four wickets in considerably dramatic fashion.
Guyana Jaguars, undoubtedly in a mood of disappointment, headed across to Darren Sammy Stadium in St. Lucia to tackle Windward Islands Volcanoes but rain affected proceedings with the game ended in stalemate but the Jaguars were enjoying the exchanges and perhaps were robbed of another outright win.
Back at home, another drawn encounter kept Guyana Jaguars hunting harder, and their confrontation with Barbados Pride would not have been easy. However, the drawn match saw Guyana Jaguars taking 10.4 points while the Bajans collected 9.8 points.
The initiation of the PCL is understandably important for West Indies’ cricket and the double-round which began two years ago manifested the growth and the standard, at least to the year 2016.
Guyana Jaguars team is the dominant force winning the championship since then. Still on home turf, the Guyanese finished 2016 and the half-way stage in clinical manner beating Trinidad and Tobago Red Force by a handsome ten-wicket margin.
The sixth round will commence March 10 when Guyana Jaguars colliding with Jamaica Scorpions at Sabina Park, Jamaica. The break should allow the Guyanese to rekindle any form of deficiency they would have experienced, especially against the Hurricanes players.
Only recently Chairman of the national selectors Rayon Griffith stated publicly that he was satisfied with the progress the side made so far in defense of the prestigious title and confident they will continue to do well in the other five scheduled matches.
Admirably, Guyana Jaguars have got some quality players who showcased their talent with some brilliant performances. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, a former West Indies skipper, has been in phenomenal form while batsmen like captain Leon Johnson, Vishal Singh, Rajindra Chandrika, Shimron Hetmyer among others also supportive. The bowling is making an impression too with left-arm spinner and test bowler Veerasammy Permaul leading from the front with another left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie backing up nicely and the pacemen Keon Joseph and Raymon Riefer with others chipping in as well.
Based on what had transpired in the last 25 matches, the Jaguars have got the right temperament for regional glory. Notwithstanding that, the other competitors are showing they are equally formidable and anxious to lift the trophy but with the way things have unfolded, the Jaguars can still do it again this season.
