Runs fest expected between Scorpions and Volcanoes
A BATTING duel is expected to unfold at the Grenada National Stadium when the Windward Islands Volcanoes host the Jamaica Scorpions in their return West Indies Championship four-day fixture, which bowls off today.
The teams had played to a draw in their first meeting at Sabina Park, and the seventh-round clash could once again be another high-scoring stalemate following recent favourable batting conditions at the Grenada National Stadium.
In the last encounter at the venue, over 1,000 runs including four centuries, were scored between the hosts Volcanoes and the visiting Guyana Jaguars.
Last year, over 800 runs were scored in the fourth One-Day International between the West Indies and England, where three centuries were scored.
With a high-scoring contest on the cards, Scorpions’ assistant coach Nikita Miller says his team will be playing the same brand of cricket that has lifted them to third place in the standings.
POSITIVE APPROACH
“Our approach will pretty much be the same as we do all our games – try to be positive and try to eliminate the mistakes that have cost us games. As a batting unit, we will be trying to build bigger partnerships, and when we bowl, we try to be disciplined,”said Miller.
The Scorpions will be hoping that captain John Campbell can add to his 2,996 Championship runs with support from the in-form Jermaine Blackwood and Nkrumah Bonner.
Meanwhile, Jamaican coach Andrew Richardson, who is in his first season as coach of the Volcanoes, says his team will be hoping to come away with a positive result as they try to get maximum points against the Jamaicans, who are just 4.4 points ahead in the standings.
“Plain and simple, we are looking to win this game. We are fourth in the standings, right behind the Jamaicans, hence we have made several changes, especially in the bowling department, to see if we can switch around our fortunes,” said Richardson.
The Volcanoes have made five changes to their squad that lost to the Barbados Pride in the last round. They have brought in West Indies players Sunil Ambris and Shermon Lewis as well as West Indies Under-19 captain Kimani Melius. The other changes are Kenneth Dember and Larry Edward.
Alick Athanaze, Ray Jordon, Desron Maloney, Shane Shillingford, and Josh Thomas are the players that were left out.