Guyana Amazon Warriors are quietly eyeing the final of the inaugural Limacol Caribbean Premier League after securing their spot in the final four of the tournament on Thursday but captain Ramnaresh Sarwan says despite their success, his side will remain firmly grounded as they recognised their mission was not yet fulfilled.
“What we’re doing is taking it step by step. We’re just focussing on our goal and the process,” said the experienced middle order batsman. “We would love to be in the final. We’re in the semi-finals so I think it is just a matter of taking the next game that we’ve got in stride and trying to continue with this momentum. We don’t want to be looking too far ahead of ourselves. I think for us it has been a process and we just want to continue that process.”
Guyana secured their semi-final spot when they beat Jamaica Tallawahs by five runs on Thursday at Sabina Park. The victory was their second in a row and their fourth in six games in the competition, carrying them level with leaders Barbados Tridents on eight points.
The manner of their victory was impressive. Defending 139 for six, their spinners especially strangled the Tallawahs’ feared batting line-up, leaving the hosts to score ten from the last over in order to win.
Then, in a brilliant move, Sarwan called on seamer Chris Barnwell to deliver the final rites and the right-armer duly obliged, taking two wickets and limiting the Tallawahs to just four runs in his only over of the contest.
Sarwan, however, refused to take all the credit for the decision.
“It was a collective effort. We got together – me, Sunil Narine, who is the vice-captain, Mohammed Hafeez and Simmo (Lendl Simmons) – and suggested that we go with Barnwell,” the former West Indies captain related.
“Obviously the game we played in Guyana [when we lost to St Lucia Zouks in the last over] we went with Hafeez but he told us he didn’t want us to make the same mistake again so he said let’s give it to one of the seamers,” Sarwan added with a laugh. “So it was Barnwell or James Franklin that we would have gone with.”
He continued: “I thought it was a total team effort. Obviously I thought we could have gotten ten more runs but it just didn’t happen, so we just had to work with what we had. Everyone really bowled well including Sunil and of course we had a superb last over from young Barnwell.”
Narine, voted Man-of-the-Match for his brilliant spell of one for ten from four overs, said Amazon Warriors had achieved their first target of reaching the semis but would remain focussed for their remaining game in the preliminary round.
“It has been a little tough for me. The goals I have set for myself I haven’t really reached those as yet but from the team perspective we’re doing quite good,” said the world’s number one Twenty20 bowler.
“We’ve booked our place in the semi-final. We have one more game before it so we just have to continue playing hard cricket and keep working hard. I think we’ve done all the hard work but it’s just to continue.”
The Amazon Warriors play their final preliminary game against Antigua Hawksbills at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Saturday night.