Jamaica women tipped to double up with T20 Blaze
Published:Sunday | March 17, 2024 | 8:58 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
FOLLOWING THEIR dominant showing in the CG United Regional Super50 tournament, Jamaica will look to complete the set and capture the T20 blaze title which starts later today at Warner Park in St Kitts.
According to veteran cricket analyst Joseph ‘Reds’ Perreira, Jamaica, instead of defending champions Barbados, should start as favourites.
“On the basis of performance, I can only feel that Jamaica will start as favourites. Their confidence should be fairly high based on their performance in the longer format after being led by the quartet of Stafanie Taylor, Chinelle Henry, Vanessa Watts and Chedean Nation,” said Perreira.
The Shane Brooks-coached team lost only one game throughout the regional Super50 competition which came in their final game against Guyana after they had already won the title. That match, according to the veteran cricket analyst should be erased from their memory if they’re to return to the dominance they showed in the longer version of the game.
“Their worst performance came against Guyana which came at the end of the competition. It didn’t affect the points standing but could have dented their confidence a bit. However, they’ll have to put that performance behind them,” he added.
The veteran cricket commentator also suggested that Henry, a dangerous all-rounder, who had a solid super50 tournament could potentially be elevated in the batting line up which could be a game-changer for the Jamaica team.
“We might look at batting orders being changed. I can see Chinelle Henry opening the innings as she can really take any bowling attacks apart. It’s a format where you have to bowl, bat well and create pressure. It’ll also be interesting to see the other teams batting line-ups.”
Barbados will, again, be hamstrung by the absence of their top player, Hayley Matthews, who Perreira believes could have played a major role. He suggested the pair of Barbados along with Guyana should provide stern opposition to the Jamaica team, which augurs well for the competitive level of the tournament.
“Barbados is missing their regular captain (Hayley Matthews) big time as she is in India for the Women’s Premier League. However, they will rely on the Knight sisters, Kycia and Kyshona, along with seamer Shamilia Connell.
“Guyana, on the other hand, is carried by Shemaine Campbelle and Shabika Gujnabi has shown promise but has found ways of getting out cheaply. Their bowling isn’t bad at all as they have a solid spin attack and if Cherry-Ann Fraser can stay fit, as she has genuine pace, then it could be a very competitive tournament.”
Jamaica will open their account this evening at against the Windward Islands at 6:00.
The Leeward Islands and Barbados open proceedings with a game at 9:00 am, while Trinidad and Tobago take on Guyana at 1:30 p.m.
All games are at the Warner Park stadium in St Kitts and Nevis.