Stuttering Jaguars looking to rebound against United States

CWI Super50 Cup 2018

The Guyana Jaguars pursuit of the elusive “Double” has been afflicted by back-to-back losses but they will fancy today’s match against United States who occupy Group B’s last place spot.

The Jaguars, after losing two in a stretch, have been pushed to second place, thanks to Joe Denly’s men, the Kent Spitfires who did an amazing job of outplaying Guyana during Saturday’s Day/Night affair; which ended with the English side pulling off a 3 wicket win.
Guyana’s batting in the last two matches has been circumspect as West Indies batsman Shimron Hetmyer, prior to the Jamaica Scorpions and Kent matches, was the leading run-scorer (209 runs) with the only century for the Jaguars.
While skipper Leon Johnson and veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul have hit a fifty each during good wins for Guyana earlier in the Cup, not much has come from the two most senior batsmen. As a result the middle-order, which is occupied by mostly the Jaguars young all-rounders, has managed to put their hands up but to little avail.
Chris Barnwell, who returned to Jaguars duties after a lack of form kept him out of the 4-day championship top-scored in an a gusty innings of 36 from 66 balls with two fours and as many sixes. The next best scorers were the all-round pair of Sherfane Rutherford and Romario Shepherd with some impetus from spinner Veerasammy Permaul.

While the Jaguars dip might not deter their overall result, it has left the team with a hex heading into the top/bottom-of –the-table clash against the USA. On the other hand, life has been good to America in the Cup as they whipped a strong Leewards Hurricanes by 59 runs on Saturday, giving their confidence a buff going into Monday’s game.
Although Guyana beat America early in the competition, much has change for both teams and while Guyana’s premier players have been struggling, USA’s top players have been looking ominous.
Opener Sunny Sohal, the former Indian U19 and a batsman who has been involved with top IPL franchises like Deccan Chargers, India Under-19s, Kings XI Punjab, Punjab, Royal Challengers Bangalore smoked 50 on Saturday, his second half-century of the Cup.
Also, with Sohal’s opening partner Jaskaran Malhotra beating his previous top-score of 28 with a more aggressive 38 versus Leewards, coupled with former West Indies batsman Xavier Marshall among the runs, Guyana will need to be weary in their approach.
From a bowling perspective Ex-India U19 Saurabh Netravalkar, another of USA’s premier players, has been good with the ball, claiming six wickets to date with a decent economy. Saturday’s Man-of-the-match Nosthusha Kenjige, the left-arm spinner who grabbed four scalps could be the x-factor given his performance at the venue a few days ago.
Meanwhile Jaguars have no worries, West Indies Test specialist leggy Devendra Bishoo snapped up four wickets versus the English, giving his tag partner Permaul a break.
Meanwhile, Shepherd, Keemo Paul, Rutherford and now Barnwell have completed the Jags four pronged pace attack; with the three young pacers running amok since the Cup commenced. The Jaguars will be keen on adding to their 13 points while USA will desperately seek to increase their 5 points
Guyana will want to rebound in a huge way following their two losses while USA will want to utilize their form from the previous match and win their second straight match at the Sir Viv Richards Ground. The first ball is set to bowl off from 9:00hs local time. (Clifton Ross)