CPL T20 Cricket …Guptill needs to fire today against TKR as Warriors’ chances of qualification gets slimmer

Aug 19, 2017 Sports, https://www.kaieteurnewsonline...cation-gets-slimmer/

By Sean Devers
Experienced New Zealander and Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW) Skipper Martin Guptill must lead from the front today from 12:30 hrs as his team battle Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) in their second home game at Providence in conditions that should be familiar to the home side since they had two practice matches there in preparation for this year’s Hero CPL tournament.
These two teams have meet 10 times in CPL cricket with Trinidad winning six and the Warriors winning on four occasions since this tournament was inaugurated in 2013.
Guptill seems a shadow of the Martin Guptill fans have come to know and his repeated failures, even on ‘good tracks’ during the 2017 CPL gives credence to reports that he entered the tournament with a hamstring injury.
It’s not only Guptill’s inability press on to big scores or bat through the innings that has caused the GAW to be languishing in the second to last position on two points from five games with only the pointless St Lucia Stars below them.
The TKR are arguably the best team in the tournament and the only team to have already qualified for the semi-finals, with 10 points from six matches, something the Warriors have always done in the previous four years of the CPL.
In a tournament of low scores, small crowds (except T&T & Guyana) and faulty catching with over 50 catches being floored already, TKR has the three highest totals, with their 179-5 in St Lucia being their best effort.
Guptill’s 33 from 41 balls and Chadwick Walton’s 37 from 33 meant the pair faced 74 deliveries between them to score 70 runs and with the Warriors needing to improve their net run-rate, a less than 100 strike rate in t20 cricket is now considered pedestrian pace.
Another anticipated large crowd today will want to see a tremendous improvement from the Warriors, especially tactically, mentally and producing that knock-out punch when the opposition is on the ropes as they attempt to keep their semi-finals hopes alive after repeatedly losing games that were there for the taking.
In Florida Guptill had said that the four in the order had been settled and would be continued with unlike the TKR, who has used Sunil Narine as a pinch hitter at the top of the order to telling effect.
Pakistan’s Babar Azam is elegant but takes a while to getting going and batting him at three puts pressure on his partner and it could be a blessing in disguise that he is among those to be recalled by the PCB.
This leaves an opportunity to use Kemo Paul, who scores quickly to open the batting as pinch hitter with Walton, the only Warriors’ batsmen to score a fifty so far and ask Guptill or the inform Gajanand Singh to bat at three with Jason Mohammed, the Warriors’ most consistent batsman to bat at five followed by Roshon Primus and Sohail Tanvir.
When these two teams last meet in Port-of-Spain, Walton (38) and Guptill (24) added 40 for the first wicket in 3.1 overs as South African Robert Frylinck, who is not likely to play today, conceded 22 runs in the second over.
However, no one else reached 25 as the Warriors were restricted to 156-7 as spinners Shadab Khan (4-28) and Narine (2-16) did the damage for TKR who responded with 162-3 in 19 overs as Colin Munro (70 from 47 balls) and Denish Ramdin (42 from 23 balls) featured in an unfinished 59-run stand.
The Warriors’ bowling has been generally good on all surfaces and today they could bank on spinners Rashid Khan, who was roughed up by Guyanese Jonathan Foo in the last game, the frugal Steven Jacobs, who plays his cricket with plenty of passion and left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul, while Tanvir, Emrit, Paul and Primus gives Guptill plenty of fast bowling options.
TKR’s bowling will be hard hit by the absence Khan who has been recalled by the PCB, but their spin department is still strong with Narine and left-arm spinners Khary Pierre and Jamaican Nikita Miller, while their pace attack will be spearheaded by Ronsford Beaton, Kevin Copper, Javon Searles and Dwayne Bravo, whose slower balls could be perfect for the conditions at Providence.
TKR’s batting will depend on Brendon McCullum, Colin Munro, the Bravos, Narine and Ramdin and if the Warriors wake-up and play smart cricket, an enthralling battle could be expected.