NEW AMSTERDAM, Guyana, (CMC) - Boosted by the return of West Indies opening batsman Daren Ganga, second-placed Trinidad & Tobago will hold the advantage over struggling Guyana going into their fifth round match of the Carib Beer 2004 Cricket Series, starting at Albion Community Centre today.
Ganga, who was a member of the West Indies team in the recent Test series against South Africa, will add more solidity to a T&T batting line-up that has shown a marked level of consistency in comparison to past seasons.
Unlike previous matches that were more evenly balanced, T&T, on 36 points and playing solid all-round cricket all season, will be looking for maximum points off the Guyanese, who are on four points, at the bottom of the chart.
Though Barbados at the top of the table are clear front-runners, T&T look like the only team capable of offering them any meaningful challenge.
Buoyant following victory over Windward Islands, they will be keen on staying in the top bracket as they tackle a young Guyanese side missing batting experience.
With the absence of West Indies batsmen Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan, and the bowling weakened by the dismissal of Mahendra Nagamootoo, Guyana have been struggling all season long.
T&T are also missing a few key players. None more so than their batting genius Brian Lara and lead fast bowler Mervyn Dllon, along with Ricardo Powell, playing his first season for T&T away from his native Jamaica.
Dave Mohammed, the rookie West Indies spinner, is also out of the squad with a groin.
T&T have not been suffering much though, turning in two victories and two first innings wins in drawn matches.
Dwayne Bravo, the all-round talent, has unleashed his all-round potential this season. He slammed a huge hundred (197 v West Indies-B) in accumulating 369 runs and has grabbed 19 wickets to lead T&T with both bat and ball.
Bravo has been so outstanding that he has the most runs in the competition and only behind Tino Best of Barbados with 26 wickets and team-mate Amit Jaggernauth with 20 wickets have more scalps than he has.
Bravo, Ganga, T&T captain Imran Jan and Shazam Babwah will provide the Guyanese bowlers, spearheaded by captain Neil McGarrell, with a bundle of work to dismiss them for a mediocre total.
With spin bowler Jaggernauth and Bravo both bowling well, T&T should also fancy their chances when their turn to attack the fragile Guyanese batting comes.
In the last round, the Guyanese, playing at home for the first time this season, managed to register their first points -- heavily aided by the infamous Guyanese weather.
In that match against Leeward Islands, the Guyanese batsmen mustered their second highest total for the season to force a no-result as the visitors pressed for a first innings victory.
Guyana have fallen for four totals under 200 and only three above. The batting has been the area where the team has suffered most and coach Albert Smith has reprimanded his charges for not showing application and commitment.
Both captains will be eager to win the toss and opt to bat as the spin bowlers can do substantial damage bowling last on what is expected to be a typically low and slow Albion pitch.
Squads:
GUYANA (from): Neil McGarrell (captain) Sewnarine Chattergoon, Krishna Arjune, Narsingh Deonarine, Travis Dowlin, Damodar Daesrath, Leon Johnson, Zaheer Mohamed, Vishal Nagamootoo, Rayon Griffith, Esan Crandon, Rayon Thomas, Hemnarine Harrinarain.