Bring the venom - Jamaica Scorpions coach warns against complacency as Guyana Jaguars visit Trelawny

The Jamaica Scorpions go into today’s sixth-round clash against the Guyana Jaguars confident, however, the home side will not be taking the five-time defending champions lightly when the sides meet at the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium.

Boosted by back-to-back victories over Guyana and the Leewards in their last two encounters, the Scorpions could leapfrog the Jaguars into second with their third win of the campaign.

The Scorpions, who are on 57.4 points in third position, face another tough encounter against the second-placed Jaguars, who are on 60. 8 points.

Head coach André Coley knows all too well that overconfidence can backfire on his team if they enter the contest with that mindset.

“Guyana is always a tough opponent playing at home or away,” he said. “They are champions for a reason, and we don’t want to be overconfident. We have been doing a lot of things well, and we have become more consistent in more areas, and it’s all about focusing on our plan and executing that plan.”

Spin threat

Coley is well aware that the Jaguars pose a spin threat in the competition’s leading wicket-taker Veerasammy Permaul, who has picked up 30 wickets in five matches to date.

The left-arm spinner will be making his 100th appearance for the Jaguars, and Coley knows all too well what to expect from the veteran.

“Because of his years of experience, he has picked up a lot of wickets,” Coley said. “But we have wicket-takers as well in our line-up with Nicholson Gordon and Patrick Harty in the top 10 bowlers in the competition. We are not focusing on any one bowler. What we need to focus on is batting as a unit and creating partnerships.”

The Scorpions will be hoping that the in-form Nkrumah Bonner and Jermaine Blackwood can maintain their good performances while captain John Campbell, who has been inconsistent with the bat, needs just 90 more runs to reach a milestone of 3,000 in the Championship.

Guyana will be without Windies batsman Shimron Hetmyer, who will fly out to Sri Lanka to join the senior side. He has been replaced by Akshaya Persaud.

Right arm leg spinner Devendra Bishoo has also been replaced in the side by another spinner in Gudakesh Motie.

Squads:

SCORPIONS

John Campbell (captain)

Jermaine Blackwood

Nkrumah Bonner

Gordon Bryan

Dennis Bulli

Nicholson Gordon

Patrick Harty Jr

Jamie Merchant

Marquino Mindley

Paul Palmer Jr

Denis Smith

Alwyn Williams

Oraine Williams

JAGUARS

Leon Johnson (captain)

Christopher Barnwell

Anthony Bramble

Tagenarine Chanderpaul

Chandrapaul Hemraj

Keon Joseph

Veerasammy Permaul

Akshaya Persaud

Raymon Reifer

Kevin Sinclair

Vishaul Singh

Nial Smith

Gudakesh Motie