West Indies: Nortel - Full steam ahead (24 Jul 1998)

24 July 1998

Full steam ahead

By Haydn Gill

Darnley Boxill concedes that the team winning the preliminary phase of the Nortel limited-overs cricket championship wont have the better draw in the semifinals, but that will not deter his team from seeking their third successive victory today.

Under the contentious format of the reconstructed competition, the team with the best record in the first stage of the competition meets the third-placed team in the semifinals, while the second-placed team has a supposedly easier match against the No. 4 team.

As Barbados studied their opponents Trinidad and Tobago, they would also have been discussing the structure and the fickle weather that was yesterday threatening to put an end to two days of glorious sunshine.

Its unfortunate the way how the fixtures are structured that the first team is playing the third team and not the fourth team, manager Boxill told WEEKENDSPORT.

But I think that once we want to win the championship, we are quite prepared to play anybody.

Once we continue to play as well as we are playing, we should be there at the end to get into the last bit and were looking to win the championship outright.

They enter todays match against the host country with supreme confidence following their easy back-to-back victories over the Leeward and Windward Islands.

Trinidad and Tobago are one of the most unpredictable teams around. One day they play outstandingly well, as was the case on Tuesday when they routed the Windwards for 53, and some days, they fold easily like they did on Wednesday when Jamaica crushed them by nine wickets.

The hosts most feared batsman is captain Darren Ganga. He made a century off Barbados in the senior Presidents Cup earlier this year but in last seasons youth match he bagged a pair.

The venue for todays match is Gilbert Park in Couva. The other matches today pit joint-leaders Jamaica against Leewards at Petrotrin, and Guyana against Windwards at Queens Park Oval.

Source :: The Barbados Nation (https://www.nationnews.com/)