Bajans, Guyana clash in final

Guyana’s strong batting line-up headed by two of the West Indies’ leading batsmen will have to confront Barbados’ feisty attack that can call on no less than four West Indies fast bowlers. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the West Indies captain, and Ramnaresh Sarwan, his deputy, have been at the very heart of Guyana’s batting throughout the competition in which their side has played unbeaten.

Chanderpaul and Sarwan could have a first-hand look at Corey Collymore, Tino Best, and Fidel Edwards, three of the fast bowlers that will comprise the West Indies’ attack in their three-Test series against Australia next month Down Under.

"I think we will have to respect Barbados’ bowling line-up, since they have an attack with players that have the experience of playing for the West Indies," Guyana coach Albert Smith told CMC CricketPlus on the eve of the match.

"Our strength definitely is our batting, since we have two of the top West Indies batsmen, so it is clear that it will be the ball against the bat in the Final. He added: "Our batsmen will be more comfortable playing against Barbados’ fast bowlers at Bourda.

"Of course, they will not get the same kind of pace and bounce from the pitch that they get in Barbados, and when it comes our time to bowl at them, their batsmen will have to adjust to the lower bounce of the pitch, so I think we will start with a bit of an advantage there."

Although Guyana and Barbados have made more appearances in the Final of the regional limited-overs competition than the others, they have only met twice in the Championship decider, and on both occasions Guyana have won. "Matches between Guyana and Barbados are always competitive," Smith said.

"For both teams, it will come down to our planning, and execution of those plans. We have two very experienced captains in this match, both teams are looking forward to winning, and the team that performs better under pressure will do this." Guyana have appeared in the Final of the regional limited-overs competition one dozen times, and this will be their fourth appearance in the last five years.

"It all has to do with our preparations, and the competitiveness in our County Championship," Smith said.

"We want to be consistently doing well in regional cricket, and we try to inculcate this into the younger players in our domestic competitions.

"It’s good that we have been consistent. It’s been a lot of hard work, and plenty of commitment. We won in 2001 and 2003, but we lost the Final last year with some silly performances that we do not want to happen again this year."

For Barbados, making an unmatched 14th appearance in the final, the team will be looking to get the monkey of losing to Guyana on a regular basis — in the regional limited-overs competition — off their backs.

"It’s always a tough ask for us to beat Guyana because they always seem to play the type of cricket that places severe restrictions on our batting a lot," Barbados captain Courtney Browne told reporters in an interview.

"I think if we are to going to beat Guyana, we will have to bat well because I think we have the bowling attack that can limit them. Whether we are setting a target, or chasing runs, we always seem to fall down in our batting against Guyana, particularly against the spin bowlers.

He continued: "Our batsmen, in the middle order especially, will need to keep their heads, and keep rotating the strike. Hopefully, we can then pick the scoring rate up at the end of the innings with wickets in hand, so this is what I think we need to concentrate upon to beat Guyana."

"I have not been totally satisfied with the way we have been batting, but this is the Final, and the match will be decided by what we do on the day, so this means the batsmen will definitely have to step up." Browne has brushed aside the notion of the slow Bourda pitch playing a big part in deciding the match.

"All of the guys have had enough experience playing cricket in Guyana for the conditions not to be an issue," he said.

"Our batsmen know full well what shots they can, and cannot play, and our bowlers know what they can, and cannot bowl. For once, the Barbadians will not carry the extra burden of being the favourites into the Final, and Browne believes this can be a blessing in disguise.

"Barbados is often considered the team on top, but being dubbed ‘the underdogs’ may be advantageous to us," he said.

"One way or the other, if we play the best cricket, whether we bat or bowl first, and do whatever we have to do well, we can win. The Guyanese have not been beaten in the tournament, and if we can exert some pressure, it will be interesting to see how they handle."

There has been one setback for Barbados ahead of the Final. A fractured finger will sideline opening batsman Dale Richards.

He sustained the injury when fielding during the second semi-final on Friday against Windward Islands. In the preliminary competition, Guyana won the corresponding contest by three runs under the Duckworth-Lewis Method, after bad light stopped play early.

Guyana has been the most successful team in the regional limited overs competition with eight titles, and Barbados won four times.

Squads:

GUYANA (from): Shivnarine Chanderpaul (captain), Krishna Arjune, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Derwin Christian, Esaun Crandon, Lennox Cush, Narsingh Deonarine, Assad Fudadin, Rayon Griffith, Reon King, Neil McGarrell, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Ryan Ramdass, Ramnaresh Sarwan.

BARBADOS (from): Courtney Browne (captain), Tino Best, Ian Bradshaw, Shirley Clarke, Corey Collymore, Fidel Edwards, Ryan Hinds, Alcindo Holder, Martin Nurse, Floyd Reifer, Dwayne Smith, Kurt Wilkinson; Dale Richards (injured).

UMPIRES: Billy Doctrove, Norman Malcolm, TV Replays: Eddie Nicholls, Reserve: Clive Duncan.

MATCH REFEREE: Grantley Culbard.