Thursday, March 28, 2024

Going for title No. 3

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Two new?captains and two new titles.
Now Barbados will be aiming for championship No. 3 as they entertain Jamaica in the semi-finals of the Regional Four-Day Championship starting at Kensington Oval today.
The four semi-finalists will be competing for the Headley-Weekes Trophy, having already captured the NAGICO 50-over title and the President’s Cup after topping the standings in the league segment of the four-day competition.
The winner will take on the winner of the match between Trinidad and Tobago and the Windward Islands, being played at the Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, at the same time. The Trinidadians will be without experienced off-spinner Amit Jaggernauth, who announced his retirement from first-clas cricket during the week.
Despite the success of the Barbados team over Jamaica in the league fixture when Kraigg Brathwaite’s team won by 245 runs, the local players will not be dropping their guard over the next four days.
“Although we beat Jamaica earlier we can’t be complacent,” Barbados captain Kraigg Brathwaite told SATURDAY?SPORT on the eve of the match.
“We have to maintain our focus and when we get out there on the field give 110 per cent,” Brathwaite said.
The Barbados camp will be well aware that the last occasion Barbados hosted the Jamaicans, the visitors won by 63 runs. That contest last season was a low-scoring affair in which neither team reached 200 in any innings. Jonathan Carter was the only Barbadian batsman who scored a half century and the Bajans were undone by a ten-wicket match haul by left-arm spinner Nikita Miller.
But the recent form and momentum favours Barbados. After a first-series loss to the Windward Islands, Barbados dominated all other opponents recording victories over Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Jamaica and the Leeward Islands. Rain severely impacted the match against the Combined Campuses & Colleges (CCC) which Barbados also dominated.
By contrast, Jamaica, in a dramatic switch from the form of recent seasons, just squeezed into the Final Four with a last-match triumph over the CCC.
All this counts for nothing as far as the Barbados camp is concerned and they make a fresh start today in the quest to achieve further success.
“The Jamaica team has brought in some senior players but we will still apply our game plan to play the best cricket possible and get maximum batting and bowling points, along with victory,” manager Hartley Reid said yesterday.
With Barbados two matches away from a hat-trick of titles in a year that started with controversy surrounding the captaincy and the issue between Kirk Edwards and the BCA, coach Hendy Springer is also insisting there will be little chance of any casual approach on the part of his team.
“Our attitude is very positive. We will not be taking things for granted. Because we beat Jamaica earlier in the season it does not mean they will allow us to walk all over them here. It is an opportunity for them to salvage something from this season, an opportunity to reinvigorate themselves,” Springer said.
“We want to re-emphasise the point of being winners and champions by winning the second trophy,” Springer said.
Springer is not too concerned about the memory of the low-scoring affair of last season.
“I expect a good cricket wicket with some moisture early on to make sure the pitch lasts. Neither team would want a deterioration of the pitch too early,” he said.
Jamaica captain Tamar Lambert, who has struggled with the bat, managing a mere 125 runs in six matches at an average of 11.36, said reaching the semi-finals was a chance to end a topsy-turvy season strongly.
“It was good that we ended the preliminary competition with a victory after losing three straight,” said Lambert. “It’s been a long time since we lost three matches in a season, so it was nice to return to winning ways and boost our confidence ahead of this match.
“Playing for your country should be motivation enough. Every time we take the field we give it our all and we will not be giving any less in this match. We want to come out in this match and put up a good show against Barbados in this match,” he added.

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