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guyanatimesGY.com
Monday, FEBRUARY 3, 2014
Guyana look to maintain winning momentum – play Windward Islands today By Rajiv Bisnauth
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uoyed by the comprehensive 114-run win in their opening game against Ireland, a confident Guyana will look to maintain their stranglehold over the defending champions Windward Islands when the two teams meet today in game six of the NAGICO Regional Super50 cricket tournament. The day/night contest commences from 14:00h at the Queens Park Oval, Trinidad and Tobago and a win will definitely guarantee the Guyanese a place in the semi-finals, with one match to spare, against Jamaica on Saturday. For Guyana, it will be an advantage of sorts as the Windward Islands are at the other end of the confidence spectrum after their 14run defeat against Jamaica in their opening game, and more so the injury to allrounder Darren Sammy. Also, the ban on prolific offspinner Shane Shillingford could again prove too much for them to overcome. Shillingford was the best bowler in last year’s tournament with 17 wickets from six matches and his absence has definitely created a big hole in the Windwards’ bowling department. Sammy’s last minute pull-
out was also a big blow, but key to their chances of a win today are Keddy Lesporis, who scored an unbeaten century against Jamaica, opener Devon Smith, and the hard hitting Andre Fletcher, who both topped the tournament averages last year, scoring over 300 runs each. However, it is unlikely that the Guyana team management would tinker with the playing XI for at least this game, unless they are forced to, due to injury concerns. All eyes will again be on veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul, leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo and Ramnaresh Sarwan, as they all keep on trying to prove themselves worthy of a West Indies ODI recall. With 449 ODI’s between them, both Chanderpual and Sarwan played standout innings against Ireland as Guyana made 301 for three. Chanderpaul made 79 off 113 balls and shared in a 129-run opening stand with Trevon Griffith (62) before Sarwan was the chief destroyer, finishing unbeaten on 89 from 62 balls, hitting 10 fours and four sixes. Overall, it was a clinical effort from Barnwell's men who first impressed with the bat before the bowlers dismiss the visitors for 187.
Anamayah Memorial Basketball...
Paul Wintz
Fast bowlers Ronsford Beaton finished with 2 for 41 while Paul Wintz, who had his figures slightly spoiled by Kevin O'Brien, still managed a respectable return of 3 for 30. Guyana earned a bonus point due to their wide margin of victory, and will no doubt look to main-
tain the winning momentum. Meanwhile, ESPN Caribbean will continue to carry live, exclusive coverage of the tournament from January 30 until February 16. The matches held in Trinidad will air live from 13:50 hours
(Eastern Caribbean Time) on the ESPN Caribbean and ESPN 2 Caribbean television networks and on ESPN Play [www.espnplay.com] – ESPN’s multiscreen live and on-demand broadband service. The competition is the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) premier limited overs event. Defending champions, Windward Islands, head Zone A along with Jamaica, Guyana and foreign guests, Ireland. Zone B consists of last year’s beaten finalist, Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC), as well as the hosts, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Leeward Islands. Matches will be played at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad and Shaw Park in Tobago as the teams vie for the coveted Clive Lloyd Trophy, named after the revered batsman and legendary West Indies skipper. The top two teams will advance from each zone into the semi-finals. These will be held on February 12 and 13 with the finals slated for February 15. ESPN Caribbean will also air ESPN Cricket Report during this knockout phase, hosted by Barry Wilkinson and analyst, West Indian legend Colin Croft. They will cover pre-match
Davis Cup: Andy Murray beats Sam Querrey to seal GB win
Black Sharks G Get Pass RHT
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yrish Black Sharks recorded their first win in the Anamayah Memorial Basketball Tournament when they overpowered Rose Hall Town (RHT) 40-25 in a low scoring game at the Area ‘H’ court. After losing to the Jammers in the opening game of the tournament, the Black Sharks started the game with their focus on defense and restricted RHT to four points in the first quarter to take a six points lead. Trying to get into their own game in the second quarter the visiting Black Sharks were held to an even second quarter to keep their six points lead at the half time whistle. As the game proceeded they decided to go back the their first quarter strategy and once again made scoring difficult for RHT, allowing them to only score five
points in the third and six points in the fourth sessions while increasing their lead and hold on the game. Rayel Franklyn scored a game high of 14 for the Black Sharks and received good support from Kesnen Williams with eleven points. For RHT Osafo Profit scored 10 points and Kevin Deolall and Troy Paul contributed six each. The competition continues on Wednesday when Rose Hall Town Jammers take on RHT at the Area ‘H’ court. Meanwhile, on Sunday the competition continues when New Amsterdam Warriors take on Smithfield Rockers at the Vrymans Ervin Municipal Court in New Amsterdam. The tournament is being organized by Vibert Garrett. At stake are cash incentives and trophies.
(13:30 hours ECT) and midinnings (17:30 hours ECT) analysis, as well as ESPN Cricket Final, a half-hour post-match recap (22:00 hours ECT) following each eliminator. This tournament serves as a prelude to the Windies’ limited-overs home series against England prior to their title defense of the International Cricket Council’s World Twenty20 trophy, which will be broadcast exclusively by ESPN Caribbean in March 2014. Guyana squad reads: Robin Bacchus, Trevon Griffith, Leon Johnson, Shivnarine Chanderpaul (vice-captain), Narsingh Deonarine, Christopher Barnwell (captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan, Royston Crandon, Assad Fudadin, Anthony Bramble (w/k), Devendra Bishoo, Veerasammy Permaul, Ronsford Beaton and Paul Wintz. Windward Islands squad: Liam Sebastien (captain), Andre Fletcher (vice-captain), Johnson Charles (wicket-keeper), Tyron Theophille, Mervin Matthew, Craig Emmanuel, Garey Mathurin, Keddy Lesporis, Devon Smith, Dalton Polius, Delorn Johnson, Kenroy Peters, Romel Currency and Alston Bobb.
reat Britain are into the Davis Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 1986 after Andy Murray secured the winning point against the USA. Murray beat Sam Querrey 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (3-7) 6-1 6-3 to give Britain an unassailable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five tie in San Diego. It is the first time Britain have beaten the USA since 1935. They will travel to Italy in April for the quarter-final, which will almost certainly be played on clay. "This is a massive team effort," GB captain Leon Smith told BBC Sport. "People don't see the work off the court. We should be proud of the team spirit and what the guys have achieved here. "I was saying to the guys during the week that we've used 11 different players over the last few years - a true team effort. It's great to have this team spirit running through." The victory was set up by a perfect opening day on Friday, when Murray beat Donald Young before James Ward upset Querrey over five sets. Murray was rested from
Andy Murray
the doubles on Saturday, which saw Colin Fleming and Dom Inglot lose to the world number one Bryan brothers, but the Wimbledon champion completed the job over almost three hours against Querrey on Sunday. "Sam came out playing extremely aggressive, he was very aggressive on my serve," said the Scot. "I changed tactics at the beginning of the third set and I was able to dictate a lot of points after that." Murray, 26, took a grip
on the match after the first two were shared in tiebreaks, and overcame a late scare when he had to recover from 15-40 down to serve out the match. "You have a responsibility to your team-mates to play well," said Murray, "but I also have a lot of experience in the Davis Cup and the Slams, so you know how to deal with it relatively well." Querrey, ranked 49th, put up a strong fight following his surprise loss to Ward,
twice coming back from a break down in the first set and edging the second. But with the American crowd sensing an unexpected chance to get back in the tie, Murray slammed the door shut as he won the first four games of the third set and got the decisive break in game six of the fourth. It was Murray's 17th successive Davis Cup singles win and secured an eighth win from nine matches for Smith, who took over the captaincy in 2010 when Britain were on the verge of relegation to the lowest Europe/Africa Zone Group III tier. They now face the prospect of a quarter-final on 4-6 April against Italy. The Italians, led by world number 15 Fabio Fognini and number 31 Andreas Seppi, beat Argentina 3-1 in Mar del Plata. "This is the first time I've been involved in Davis Cup that we've had a chance of winning the competition," said Murray. "It's good for me to play on the clay. Often going into the clay season I haven't played any matches on it for 11 months. It'll be a tough match." (BBC Sport)