ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – Front-runners Barbados Pride and nearest rivals Guyana Jaguars will be looking to forge ahead in the fierce battle for the Headley/Weekes Trophy in the seventh round of the 2019-20 West Indies Championship, beginning on Thursday.

Pride currently head the standings in the Championship on 108.2 points – 29.2 clear of five-time defending champions Jaguars – and this weekend’s matches should provide another thrilling round of rivalries between the teams.

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The feature match brings together hosts Trinidad & Tobago Red Force and their arch-rivals Pride at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.

Jaguars host Leeward Islands Hurricanes at the Guyana National Stadium in what has been a fierce rivalry in the past.

And, there will be something a little extra-special about the rivalry between Windward Islands Volcanoes and Jamaica Scorpions at the Grenada National Cricket Stadium.

Red Force vs Pride in Tarouba, Trinidad

Pride will be seeking to complete the sweep of the Red Force and their sixth successive win this season in this contest.

Red Force narrowly missed out on victory over the Hurricanes in the previous round and the nature of the contests against the Pride in recent years is enough to motivate them to try to put a stop to the visitors’ advance.

When the two teams met in the fifth round this season, Kraigg Brathwaite’s side emerged from a shaky start to the match to claim a crushing, 299-run victory over the Red Force.

This will be the pivot for the two teams: The Pride will be aiming for a repeat of that result, if not the entire performance, and the Red Force will want to prove that was an aberration.

Pride have won four of their five matches in Trinidad in the Professional Cricket League era of the Championship, including the last two which were played at the venue for this match, so they will not be daunted by the Red Force challenge.

They, however, will have do without West Indies pacer Kemar Roach, so much will depend on the young pace duo of Chemar Holder and Keon Harding to do their bidding up front.

Holder, the former West Indies Under-19 World Cup-winning fast bowler, and Harding, the leading bowler in the Colonial Medical Insurance Super50 Cup this past November, have combined for 59 wickets this season.

The contest looks likely to be a battle of pace vs spin with the Pride bringing their power-packed pace attack and the Red Force putting long-serving leg-spinner Imran Khan and left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein on the park.

Khan, appointed captain for this match, has taken more than 400 wickets in his Championship career and returned to action last weekend following injury, with a seven-wicket performance against the Hurricanes. Hosein has slipped past Holder to move into second place on the list of successful bowlers this season with 30 scalps.

Apart from changing captains, Red Force have made a few personnel changes, including bringing Barbadian Test batsman Kyle Hope back into their squad.

This means the batsmen will have their work cut out for them and the side that handles the other’s bowling strength will be the winner.

A number of players stand on the threshold of personal milestones which could be accomplished in the match, if they are selected:

• Justin Greaves (Pride) has scored 981 Championship runs and needs 19 more for 1,000. He has also taken 46 Championship wickets and needs four more for 50; and
• Jomel Warrican (Pride) has taken 195 Championship wickets and needs five more for 200.

Squads:

RED FORCE (from): Imran Khan (captain), Bryan Charles, Cephas Cooper, Joshua da Sil­va, Jyd Goolie, Kyle Hope, Akeal Ho­sein, Jason Mohammed, Uth­man Muhammad, Khary Pierre, Anderson Phillip, Isaiah Rajah, Daniel St. Clair

IN–Goolie, Hope, St. Clair; OUT–Yannick Ottley, Ter­rance Hinds, Je­re­my Solozano

PRIDE (from): Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), Shamarh Brooks, Shane Dowrich, Dominic Drakes, Justin Greaves, Keon Harding, Chemar Holder, Kyle Mayers, Shayne Moseley, Ashley Nurse, Kevin Stoute, Tevyn Walcott, Jomel Warrican

IN–Walcott; OUT–Kemar Roach

UMPIRES: Danesh Ramdhanie, Carl Tuckett (St. Kitts & Nevis)

MATCH REFEREE: Michael Ragoonath

RESERVE UMPIRE: Kashif Sandy

Volcanoes vs Scorpions in St. George’s, Grenada

This will be another chance for Volcanoes head coach Andrew Richardson, a former Jamaica fast bowler, to try to get the better of the side from his homeland and rekindle the flame in his side following last weekend’s loss to the Pride.

This will be the first time that former Volcanoes head coach Andre Coley will be returning to his former stomping ground and his Scorpions side has a similar objective, after they too, were brushed last weekend, when the Jaguars came into their backyard and manhandled them.

In the second round this season, this contest was marked by high-scoring and ended in a draw, which was the first time that neither of the two teams had beaten the other in the PCL era of the Championship.

It is the kind of outcome that both sides might relish for a welcomed boost of confidence after their shattering losses.

Volcanoes hold the edge 3-2 when they play on home soil, but Scorpions will recall that last season they clinched four-wicket victory at the venue for this match.

The home team have made five changes to their squad with West Indies batsman Sunil Ambris returning from One-day International duty in Sri Lanka to lead the side, Test fast bowler Shermon Lewis returning from injury and West Indies Under-19 captain Kimani Melius making his first appearance for the season being the most notable.

Experienced pacer Derval Green returns to the Scorpions side after missing the previous match because of injury.

A number of players stand on the threshold of personal milestones which could be accomplished in the match, if they are selected:

• Nkrumah Bonner (Scorpions) has taken 45 Championship wickets and needs five more for 50
• John Campbell (Scorpions) has scored 2,996 Championship runs and needs four more for 3,000
• Roland Cato (Volcanoes) has scored 947 Championship runs and needs 53 more for 1,000, and
• Devon Smith (Volcanoes) has scored 10,963 Championship runs and needs 37 more for 11,000.

Squads:

VOLCANOES (from): Sunil Ambris (captain), Roland Cato, Keron Cottoy, Kenneth Dember, Larry Edward, Andre Fletcher, Kavem Hodge, Ryan John, Shermon Lewis, Preston McSween, Kimani Melius, Devon Smith, Emmanuel Stewart

IN–Ambris, Dember, Edward, Lewis, Melius; OUT–Alick Athanaze, Ray Jordan, Desron Maloney, Shane Shillingford, Josh Thomas

SCORPIONS (from): John Campbell (captain), Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Gordon Bryan, Dennis Bulli, Derval Green, Patrick Harty Jr, Jamie Merchant, Marquino Mindley, Paul Palmer Jr, Denis Smith, Alwyn Williams, Oraine Williams

IN–Green; OUT–Nicholson Gordon

UMPIRES: Johnathan Blades (Barbados), Leslie Reifer Jr (Barbados)

MATCH REFEREE: Carlyle Felix

RESERVE UMPIRE: Roger Davis

Jaguars vs Hurricanes in Providence, Guyana

Jaguars got their season back on track with a commanding, seven-wicket victory over the Scorpions inside three days in the previous round.

Hurricanes held on grimly for a draw against Red Force, when it appeared that they too, were shaping up for a morale-boosting win.

In the first round this season, Jaguars dealt a huge blow to a season that promised much for the Hurricanes with a 10-wicket win on the road.

On home soil now, the Jags will be looking to complete the season sweep against these opponents in the hope of keeping pressure up on the front-running Pride.

Though the Hurricanes have not been playing at their best this season, the Jaguars must still have cause for concern, having lost two of the last three matches between the two sides at the venue for this match.

A showdown is expected between the champion spinners on either side. Veerasammy Permaul has been this season’s leading bowler so far with 45 scalps and West Indies off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall has jumped into prominence with 23 wickets in only four matches, having missed the first two games of the season because of injury.

The Jaguars batting line-up appears well equipped to manage Cornwall, but how well the Hurricanes batting, which has been a let-down this season, copes with Permaul could prove decisive.

Tevin Imlach has come into the Jags squad for the injured Chandrapaul Hemraj, and the Hurricanes have made three changes including leaving out experienced batsman Devon Thomas and bringing former West Indies Under-19 World Cup-winning batsman Keacy Carty back into the line-up as one of the replacements.

A number of other players stand on the threshold of personal milestones which could be accomplished in the match, if they are selected:

• Montcin Hodge (Hurricanes) has scored 3,919 Championship runs and needs 81 more for 4,000
• Keon Joseph (Jaguars) has taken 91 Championship wickets and needs nine more for 100
• Jeremiah Louis (Hurricanes) has scored 914 Championship runs and needs 86 more for 1,000
• Gudakesh Motie (Jaguars) has taken 96 Championship wickets and needs four more for 100, and
• Raymon Reifer (Jaguars) has taken 143 Championship wickets and needs seven more for 150.

Squads:

JAGUARS (from): Leon Johnson (captain), Christopher Barnwell, Anthony Bramble, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Tevin Imlach, Keon Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Veerasammy Permaul, Akshaya Persaud, Raymon Reifer, Kevin Sinclair, Vishaul Singh, Nial Smith

IN–Imlach; OUT–Chandrapaul Hemraj

HURRICANES (from): Jahmar Hamilton (captain), Sheno Berridge, Keacy Carty, Rahkeem Cornwall, Montcin Hodge, Amir Jangoo, Jeremiah Louis, Kian Pemberton, Adelvin Phillip, Kieran Powell, Ross Powell, Akeem Saunders, Terance Warde

IN–Carty, Phillip, Saunders; OUT–Nino Henry, Jaison Peters, Devon Thomas

UMPIRES: Nigel Duguid, Christopher Taylor (Jamaica)

MATCH REFEREE: Reon King

RESERVE UMPIRE: Javed Persaud

Source: CWI Media