SARWAN AND EDWARDSGEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC:
TODAY'S FINAL of the KFC Cup West Indies limited-overs championship between hosts Guyana and traditionally strong Barbados at Bourda Oval is shaping up to be quite intriguing.
Guyana's strong batting line-up headed by two of the West Indies' leading batsmen will have to confront Barbados' feisty attack that can call on no less than four West Indies fast bowlers.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the West Indies captain, and Ramnaresh Sarwan, his deputy, have been at the very heart of Guyana's batting throughout the competition in which their side has played unbeaten.
Chanderpaul and Sarwan could have a first-hand look at Corey Collymore, Tino Best and Fidel Edwards, three of the fast bowlers that will comprise the West Indies' attack in their three-Test series against Australia next month Down Under.
EXPERIENCED PLAYERS
"I think we will have to respect Barbados' bowling line-up, since they have an attack with players that have the experience of playing for the West Indies," Guyana coach Albert Smith said yesterday.
"Our strength definitely is our batting, since we have two of the top West Indies batsmen, so it is clear that it will be the ball against the bat in the final.
He added: "Our batsmen will be more comfortable playing against Barbados' fast bowlers at Bourda.
"Of course, they will not get the same kind of pace and bounce from the pitch that they get in Barbados, and when it comes our time to bowl at them, their batsmen will have to adjust to the lower bounce of the pitch, so I think we will start with a bit of an advantage there."
Although Guyana and Barbados have made more appearances in the final of the regional limited-overs competition than the others, they have only met twice in the championship decider, and on both occasions Guyana have won.
Guyana have appeared in the final of the regional limited-overs competition a dozen times and this will be their fourth appearance in the past five years.
For Barbados, they will be looking to get the monkey of losing to Guyana on a regular basis in the regional limited-overs competition off their backs.
"It's always a tough ask for us to beat Guyana, because they always seem to play the type of cricket that places severe restrictions on our batting a lot," Barbados captain Courtney Browne said.
WILL HAVE TO BAT WELL
"I think if we are to going to beat Guyana, we will have to bat well, because I think we have the bowling attack that can limit them. Whether we are setting a target or chasing runs, we always seem to fall down in our batting against Guyana, particularly against the spin bowlers.
He continued: "Our batsmen, in the middle order especially, will need to keep their heads, and keep rotating the strike. Hopefully, we can then pick the scoring rate up at the end of the innings with wickets in hand, so this is what I think we need to concentrate upon to beat Guyana."
There has been one setback for Barbados ahead of the final. A fractured finger will sideline opening batsman Dale Richards. He sustained the injury when fielding during the second semi-final on Friday against the Windward Islands.
In the preliminary competition, Guyana won the corresponding contest by three runs under the Duckworth-Lewis Method, after bad light stopped play early.
Squads: GUYANA (from): Shivnarine Chanderpaul (captain), Krishna Arjune, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Derwin Christian, Esaun Crandon, Lennox Cush, Narsingh Deonarine, Assad Fudadin, Rayon Griffith, Reon King, Neil McGarrell, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Ryan Ramdass, Ramnaresh Sarwan.
BARBADOS (from): Courtney Browne (captain), Tino Best, Ian Bradshaw, Shirley Clarke, Corey Collymore, Fidel Edwards, Ryan Hinds, Alcindo Holder, Martin Nurse, Floyd Reifer, Dwayne Smith, Kurt Wilkinson; Dale Richards (injured).
