CPL giants – Warriors, Patriots ready for clash tomorrow

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─ first CPL match in Guyana bowls off at National Stadium

DPI, Guyana, Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Two of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) giants Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW) and St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots are ready for their clash tomorrow at National Stadium.

During a press conference today at the Marriott Hotel, both sides said they are ready to give the fans a show and secure their first win. Captain of the Amazon Warriors, Shoaib Malik described training as “spectacular” and said his squad is ready for the biggest party in sports.

The GAW held two warm-up matches in order to fine-tune the team and iron out any kinks.

Malik said “I think it is the responsibility of the senior players who have played here and the local cricketers in Guyana to do well.  It is crucial to any franchise cricket that your local players do well; that way, you end up with the right result and it is time now for us now.”

According to the captain, along with the experience of the overseas players, Sherfane Rutherford and Shimron Hetmyer are two of the young players that can make the difference in the team’s performance. “Hetmyer and Rutherford, I have very high expectations from them, the way I have seen them playing in practice games, they are very confident guys,” he stated.

[In photo, from left to right] Head Coach of the Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW), Johan Boatha, Captain of GAW, Shoaib Malik, Patriots’ Captain, Carlos Brathwaite and Patriots’ Head Coach, Donovan Miller

Captain of the Guyana Amazon Warriors, Shoaib Malik and Captain of the Patriots, Carlos Brathwaite all set for Thursday’s showdown

Patriots’ Captain, Carlos Brathwaite admitted that playing away might be challenging especially since he has not played in Guyana since the inception of the CPL. However, with likes of Chris Gayle and Sandeep Lamichhane on his team, he is looking to use the pitch conditions to his advantage.

“Traditionally, Guyanese wicket has been a bit slow and at times it would turn and that suits their style of play so for us it is trying to adapt and we have some good spinners as well, so as much as the pitch is suited to them it is suited to us also,” Brathwaite stated.

The GAW team include, Shoaib Malik (captain) Sohail Tanvir, Chadwick Walton, Cameron Delport, Rayad Emrit, Imran Tahir, Jason Mohammed, Luke Ronchi, Veerasammy Permaul, Roshon Primus, Shimron Hetmyer, Devendra Bishoo, Gajanand Singh, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Keemo Paul, Saurabh Netravalkar and Akshaya Persaud.

The St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots team are as follows: Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Ben Cutting, Carlos Brathwaite (captain), Mahmadullah Reyad, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tom Cooper, Sheldon Cottrell, Brandon King, Devon Thomas, Graeme Cremer, Fabian Allen, Sandeep Lamichhane, Shamarh Brooks, Jeremiah Louis, Alzarri Joseph, Ibrahim Khalil and Javil Glenn.

What is slated to be an exciting showdown tomorrow at the National Stadium, Providence starts from 18:00hrs. Matches played in Guyana will be televised one hour after the match has started.

Isaiah Braithwaite

Images: Keno George