A confident T&T outfit will come up against Guyana in their fourth match of the regional T20 cricket series at the Queen's Park Oval tonight looking to continue their winning ways.
The defending champions are currently at the top of the standings with two wins from three games with the other ending in a no-result. The Guyanese have played two matches and won both and are currently on eight points and in third place due to net run rate. The Barbadians, also on eight points, currently occupy the second spot.
Yesterday the T&T boys had a good work out at the National Cricket Centre (NCC) in Couva, and although the rain did hamper them a bit, they were able to get in some serious training out in the middle.
Manager of the team Omar Khan believes that they will run over the Guyanese in their clash tonight. "We are confident going into this game. The team is building up momentum nicely and we are looking forward to playing well against Guyana and defeating them. Once we win all our remaining games we will be at the top of the standings and this would put us in the finals.
"The boys know the plan and they are coming along nicely and this is good. T&T is the team that always clicks at the right time and if you look at our all-round cricket you would see that we are improving in every department the more we play. The batting looked very good against the Leewards and we are looking forward to even better performances as we move on the tournament."
Guyana is the second most successful T20 team in the Caribbean, winning the title on two occasions as compared to three by T&T. This country has won the last two tournaments and will be aiming for a hat-trick of titles.
The last time Guyana won the title was in 2010, when they knocked out T&T in the semifinals right here at the Queen's Park Oval. Former manager of the team Colin Borde put that down to the players being caught off guard after they were told the match was not going to be played. Soon after this, they were told that the match was on and the players did not go out in the best frame of mind.
This time around the team is guarding against complacency. According to Khan: "We are taking each match as a finals and once you go out there and have this approach you are on the ball all the time.
"We have discussed the last loss to Guyana at length and I can tell you that some of the players are still hurting from that loss. I don't think they want a repeat of that so they will be very focused on all parts of their play then they go out there."
The Guyanese team includes three seasoned West Indies players in Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Narsingh Deonarine, and the T&T team is wary of them. "We know that they could be match winners and the boys have studied them and will have a plan for them come match time."
The match gets off at 8 pm and a packed house is expected at the Oval.
Teams
Trinidad and Tobago: Denesh Ramdin (captain), Darren Bravo (vice captain), Samuel Badree, Dwayne Bravo, Kevon Cooper, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Mohammed, Sunil Narine, Yannick Ottley, Evin Lewis, William Perkins, Kieron Pollard, Ravi Rampaul, Lendl Simmons.
Guyana: Veerasammy Permaul (captain), Christopher Barnwell (vice captain), Ronsford Beaton, Devendra Bishoo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Derwin Christian, Royston Crandon, Narsingh Deonarine, Jonathan Foo, Trevon Griffith, Steven Jacobs, Leon Johnson, Rajiv Ivan, Ramnaresh Sarwan.