Although already well out of the running, bragging rights will be on the line in this return contest on Thursday between the T&T Red Force and Jamaican Scorpions as just two points separate them.
Both have played inconsistently this season, leaving them occupying the bottom two slots on the league table, so they will each look to play earnestly to avoid “the wooden spoon”.
For Red Force, a clean sweep of this season’s matches will be the good for the team, while for the Scorpions, it left to be seen if there's any life left after champion left-arm spinner Nikita Miller announced his retirement from this format earlier in the week. The team's perfoprmance will be key to avoiding the sweep to T&T and finishing at the bottom slot on the six-team standing which they currently stand.
There also a couple of personal landmarks that could be accomplished in this contest as Red Force left-handed opener Jeremy Solozano needs six runs for 500 runs this season, and Imran Khan needs two wickets to complete the double of 4o wickets and 400 runs for the season.
Late last evening the national selectors sent out the squad and Red Force will be strengthened by the inclusion of Windies fast bowler Shannon Gabriel. Also making a comeback is foreign player Kyle Hope and opener Lendl Simmons. The trio comes in as a replacement for Yannic Carriah, Marlon Richards and Tion Webster.
Meanwhile, Guyana Jaguars are 23 points clear of Leeward Islands Hurricanes, their nearest rivals, which still have a mathematical chance of clinching the title, as they prepare to face a star-studded Barbados Pride at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua.
SQUADS
RED FORCE (from) – Denesh Ramdin (captain), Yannic Cariah, Bryan Charles, Joshua Da Silva, Shannon Gabriel, Kyle Hope, Imran Khan, Jason Mohammed, Khary Pierre, Jeremy Solozano, Odean Smith, Anderson Phillip, Marlon Richards, Lendl Simmons, Daniel St. Clair
SCORPIONS (from) – Paul Palmer (captain), Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Dennis Bulli, John Campbell, Akim Fraser, Assad Fudadin, Garth Garvey, Nicholson Gordon, Derval Green, Brandon King, Kennar Lewis, Jermaine Levy
UMPIRES – Zahid Bassarath, Gregory Brathwaite (Barbados)
MATCH REFEREE – Michael Ragoonath
RESERVE UMPIRE – Kashif Sandy