The Guyana team, hunting their eighth regional one-day cricket title and third since the Red Stripe Bowl began in 1997, arrived in Jamaica yesterday confident of success ahead of their semi-final clash with Jamaica at Kaiser ground tomorrow.

After an indifferent start in the first three matches of the Antigua zone of the competition (which included a crushing loss to defending champions Barbados), Guyana rebounded in their final zone match against the hosts whom they defeated in a committed and united display.

It will be Guyana’s sixth semi-final outing in the seven year history of the Red Stripe Bowl.

Skipper Shivnarine Chanderpaul after the final game said it was a fine victory to take into the semi-finals.

“We did not play as well as we were capable of but this is a fine victory to take into the semi-finals. Our bowling was a bit ragged at the start although we took some early wickets and I felt we should have knocked off the runs earlier,” Chanderpaul stated.

Chanderpaul, in his first season as Guyana one-day captain, feels a lot of work needs to be done with the team. But he was confident that the victory against Antigua will turn things around for his team in Jamaica after their early lukewarm performance.

Manager Carl Moore said he was pleased with the improved performance in the last match when Guyana had to win to keep their semi-final hopes alive.

“I am pleased with the performance in the last match. The attitude was very good and everyone went out there knowing that we had to win and it was a tremendous team effort,” Moore noted.

Close to 7,000 spectators, most of them Guyanese, flocked the ARG on Sunday and Moore said he was happy that his team produced a good performance for the crowd.

“The guys played really well and I am sure they were inspired by this large crowd with so many Guyana flags being waved all over the place. This was a big improvement from the earlier matches and hopefully we can take this attitude into the semi-finals,” Moore said.

Although the fast bowlers Reon Griffith and Eusan Crandon gave away a few wides and no balls they picked up three quick wickets to leave Antigua on 28-3. The spinners - Mahendra Nagamootoo, Neil McGarell, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Lennox Cush - all played their part well to restrict the scoring.

It was a total transformation from the team that looked a beaten bunch against Barbados well before that game was finished. The fielding was excellent, the bowling spot on and team spirit, which seemed missing in the early games, very high, as Guyana produced their best performance to win by four wickets.

“It worked in our favor that our first two matches were against the two weakest teams because, although we did not score enough runs and play as well as we are capable of playing, we still came away with two wins,” Moore said.

The loss to Barbados when Dwayne Smith hammered nine sixes and three fours in an unbeaten 92 and got support from Sherwin Campbell who made 62, seemed to be the wake up call Guyana needed.

“Everything went wrong against Barbados. Our batting is our strength and in that game both of the test batsmen failed while our two test spinners, Nagamootoo and McGarrell, have struggled for form in this competition and along with Sarwan and Cush were all expensive,” coach Albert Smith said.

Smith was pleased with the overall performance of his team in the last match and hopes that the confidence gained from that victory could spur them to another inspired performance against Jamaica in their own back yard.

Sarwan has been the leading Guyana run-scorer while Chanderpaul has looked the most dependable batsman and a lot will depend on these two if Guyana is to do well against Jamaica.

Sewnarine Cahttergoon has been consistent while Ryan Ramdass looks capable of a big score if he tempers his aggression a bit. Narsingh Deonarine has also looked good while the Nagamootoo brothers, McGarrell and Crandon have all scored runs when needed, giving Guyana a strong batting line up.

Cush has been the major disappointment and needs to work on his concentration. He is, however, a crucial member of the bowling attack, which has enabled him to maintain his place in the team.

It was good to see Chanderpaul getting lots of assistance from Sarwan and the senior players during the last game, something that was not seen too much earlier in the competition.

The performance of the Guyana team in the last match has inspired hope that this team, badly missing the leadership of Carl Hooper and the services of test pacers Reon King and Colin Stuart, can advance to the final on Sunday if they play as a team and work more on their mental strength.

Facing Jamaica, who lost to Barbados in last year’s final will be no walk in the park since they will be a lot tougher than any team Guyana has played so far.

But this team has the talent to go all the way. They have done just enough to get to Jamaica, now it is time to step up a gear and play like champions.

And attitude could be the key which decides if Guyana falls at the semi-final hurdle for the second year in a row or return to South America with the Red Stripe Bowl.