The Guyana Amazon Warriors weren’t happy on Saturday night, and they still aren’t happy now.
Losing the final of the 2014 Caribbean Premier League T20 cricket final by eight runs to the Barbados Tridents at Warner Park by the dreaded Duckworth Lewis mathematical formula has been too hard a pill to swallow, and the team is contesting the outcome.
This decision was taken following a review of the sequence of events that took place during the game, which started at 4:03 p.m. under overcast conditions, and ended just after its allotted 8:30 p.m. finish after a second stoppage because of rain.
The Warriors wrote the CPL yesterday, specifically with regard to the decision taken to award the Tridents the match via the Duckworth/Lewis method and said “they intend to vigorously pursue” having the result deemed null and void.
The Warriors, to strengthen their case, presented a number of issues to the CPL, to determine why the result should be overturned.
They noted that during the Barbados Tridents innings, there were two rain interruptions – one at the end of seven overs and the other at 11.2 overs. By the end of the Tridents innings of 20 overs, they had scored 152 runs for the loss of six wickets.
At the start of the Guyana Amazon Warriors innings, the Duckworth/Lewis calculation sheet was provided as is the norm. During the course of the Warriors innings, rain interrupted at 15.5 overs with the Amazon Warriors score at 107 runs for four wickets.
After that interruption, the covers were removed, mopping up took place, and the stumps put in position, with the field and pitch ready for play to resume. This entire process was also conducted under the supervision of the fourth umpire.
Both match umpires then went on the field when the stumps were up and subsequently went back off the field without communicating anything to the Guyana Amazon Warriors Team on the position of the game, according to them.
The Warriors, losing finalists for the second straight year, are arguing that the umpires may not have known the new Duckworth/Lewis calculations, which caused a further delay of more than 30 minutes within the stipulated match time.
At this point, an enquiry was made by the Guyana Amazon Warriors with regard to the restart of the game, and they were told that information would be provided in two minutes.
After approximately ten minutes, with no information forthcoming, the Warriors are claiming they again approached the umpires and were told that the game would restart at 8:40 p.m. with the full quota of overs to be bowled.
According to informed sources, Tridents captain Kieron Pollard and coach Robin Singh were called and advised about the restart of the game at 8:40 p.m., but both strongly objected to the decision.
Those sources told the DAILY NATION that further consultations then took place between the umpires, the match referee and the CPL technical committee, after which the Warriors were informed the match was ended and Barbados had been declared winners based on the Duckworth/Lewis calculations.
The Warriors are also claiming in their protest that prior to Saturday night’s final, their management had raised a number of important issues with CPL officials with regard to the appointment of umpires and match officials for the semi-finals and final of the tournament.
Another key conflicting matter the Warriors are arguing is the fact that based on the match referee’s Game Breakdown Report, the second innings of the match should have been completed by 7:52 p.m., but when the rain came and stopped play at 7:54 p.m., only 15.5 overs were completed.
According to the Guyanese, that demonstrates that there was a slow overrate by the Barbados Tridents and this was not dealt with by the umpires.
