As the final preliminary round of matches in Group A of the Cricket West Indies (CWI) Super50 plays off today, the focus will be on the weather, after heavy rains washed out the two matches that were carded on Friday.
The rain continued to belt down on Trinidad and apart from the severe flooding in the East and Central regions of the country, the cricket grounds took in a great amount of water. The water level in some areas in the country up to late yesterday was at a high level and any further rain today could cause a delay or even a total washout of the two final matches.
The weather forecast for today suggests that there will be more showers which will make it difficult for the matches not to be affected. How badly they will be affected, one waits to see with interest in the group already out the window, the players will still want to play cricket with the back end of the tournament coming up in Barbados.
Checks with the authorities at the Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair, Port-of-Spain and also at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, San Fernando indicate that once rain doesn’t fall in the early period of the morning, there will be play at both venues, as the drainage at both facilities is excellent.
Today, the T&T Red Force second in the standings will come up against Canada at the Queen’s Park Oval from 9 am. This match was originally scheduled to begin at 2 pm but has been moved up to 9 am. Denesh Ramdin’s men are on 25 points from their seven matches, with five wins, one loss and one no result. If they win today against last-place Canada they can move ahead of Guyana Jaguars, who are on 27 points to claim first place in the group.
However, Guyana will also be in action today, when they face the Windies B at the Academy starting at 2 pm. the Jaguars will be looking to win their final match and finish as group winners in order to play the second place finisher from Group B which is currently taking place in Barbados.
It is clear that Guyana and T&T will be the two teams moving on to the semifinals in Barbados, as there is no way the others in the group can finish in the 1-2 position that will take them through.
LATEST STANDINGS
Team P W L NR PTS NRR
Guyana Jaguars 7 5 1 1 27 1.374
T&T Red Force 7 5 1 1 25 1.325
West Indies B 7 2 2 3 14 -0.843
Windwards Volcanoes 8 1 5 2 9 -1.186
Canada 7 1 5 1 6 -0.943