We hope to go one better than T&T - Sarwan

Guyana are aiming to replicate the performance that helped them win the Caribbean Twenty20 during their Champions League campaign in South Africa, their captain Ramnaresh Sarwan has said. The team arrived in South Africa yesterday and Sarwan said his players were determined to go a step further than Trinidad & Tobago did last year, when Darren Ganga's team made the final of the inaugural Champions League but lost to New South Wales.

"It's important that we should do the things we did that helped us to win the Caribbean competition," Sarwan said. "We have lots of young, inexperienced players, but they are all very capable to springing surprises on the other teams.

"Trinidad & Tobago were the runners-up last time, and we hope to go one better. They did so well last year when they weren't expected to, and we beat them in the Caribbean T20, so that gives us lots of confidence. Their (T&T) performance is a motivating factor and we would like to go a step further than them, and my team is looking forward to the challenge."

Guyana qualified for the Champions League by beating Barbados in the final of the Caribbean Twenty20 and are pooled in Group B along with Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians, Highveld Lions and South Australia Redbacks.

Sarwan said that though his team's preparations had focused on the opposition, he was more concerned with producing the same intensity that won Guyana a berth in South Africa. "We have been studying a lot of players but we are more focussed on what we have to do," Sarwan said. "I am trying to do what we did in the Caribbean and what helped us win that tournament. We are looking to stick to our basics and try to do the best we can."

Guyana's first match of the Champions League is against Bangalore at Centurion on September 12.