Captain of the Jamaica Tallawahs said his team are rested and ready to go for the playoffs of the 2022 Hero CPL season.

St. Lucia Kings captain Faf Du Plessis hopes his team’s good form with the bat will carry over into their Eliminator against the Jamaica Tallawahs in the Caribbean Premier League in Guyana on Tuesday.

The Kings finished third in the league phase of the tournament with nine points from their 10 matches.

Their batting was led by their prolific opening combination of Du Plessis and Johnson Charles.

Charles, who was recently recalled to the West Indies squad for the T20 World Cup, finished the league phase as the leading run scorer with 342 runs from eight matches including four half centuries.

Du Plessis finished fourth on the runs chart with 291 runs in nine matches including three fifties and a magnificent 103 against the Guyana Amazon Warriors

“I think any batting team would say to you that form plays a big role. As a team I feel like, with myself and Johnson Charles up front, there’s some really good form in there. Some of the other guys are looking like they’re hitting the ball better as well so that’s a pleasing sign,” Du Plessis said.

“When guys are in form you want to cash in on that. Our start has basically been a weapon for us so, hopefully, we can get off to a good start again.”

Du Plessis also commented on the conditions of the Guyana pitch, saying “I’m really impressed with how the wicket has been playing. Based on my experience from the past here, it looks like a pretty good cricket wicket so it sets up nicely for what would be quarterfinals and semi-finals in the next two days.”

The Kings and Tallawahs will square off at 6:00pm Jamaica Time (7:00pm ECT) and the winner will advance to Qualifier 2 on Wednesday against the loser of Qualifier 1 between the Barbados Royals and Guyana Amazon Warriors.

Barbados Royals captain Kyle Mayers and his Guyana Amazon Warriors counterpart Shimron Hetmyer both expressed confidence in their respective teams ahead of their clash in Qualifier 1 of the Caribbean Premier League in Guyana on Tuesday.

The Royals and Amazon Warriors finished first and second in the recently concluded league phase and will clash at Providence with the winner booking their spot in the final and the loser getting another chance in Qualifier 2 on Wednesday against the winner of the Eliminator between the St. Lucia Kings and the Jamaica Tallawahs.

The Royals have been in fine form, winning eight out of their ten matches in the league phase.

“Things have been great. Winning eight games out of ten, I think the boys have been playing some good cricket. We’re studying the game, very high-spirited and ready to go for tomorrow,” said Mayers in a pre-match press conference on Monday.

On the other hand, the Amazon Warriors had an abysmal start, winning just one of their first six matches before reeling off four straight wins after returning to Guyana.

“So far it’s been okay. The start wasn’t what we expected as a team but when we got back to Guyana, the guys spirits were much higher than I expected and they were ready to go, especially with the crowds. With the crowds here and knowing the conditions as much as we do, I think the guys are really up for the challenge. It’s just for us to continue,” Hetmyer said.

The Royals have lifted the CPL trophy on two occasions in 2014 and 2019 while the Amazon Warriors have never won it despite reaching five finals, something Hetmyer says is not on his team’s mind heading into the playoffs.

“Mentally, the guys are good. We can’t really think about what happened in the past because a lot of these guys were not here when we made it to the knockout rounds before. We just have to keep taking it one game at a time and focus as hard as we can on the game to come.”

The match will start at 9:00am Jamaican Time (10:00am ECT).

Guyana Amazon Warriors completed the perfect set of home victories in the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) with a comprehensive defeat of the table-topping Barbados Royals on Sunday night.

 The victory means the two teams will do it all again on Tuesday in the first qualifier. 

 The Amazon Warriors won the toss and opted to field first, and that proved to be an inspired decision. On a fresh surface, their seamers wreaked havoc taking three wickets inside the PowerPlay to leave the Royals in disarray.

Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals and the 125 the Royals mustered was never likely to be enough on a track that offered good value for positive stroke play. 

The Royals were able to take two early wickets of their own when they had their turn to bowl restricting the Amazon Warriors to 18-2 but that was as good as it got. 

 Shakib Al-Hasan produced a scintillating half-century to put the Amazon Warriors on the cusp of victory and the remaining batters saw the chase home to win the game inside 15 overs.

 Earlier Guyana Amazon Warriors had utilised the movement on offer to unleash their cadre of seamers on the Royals. Romario Shepherd, Keemo Paul and Odean Smith all weighed in with wickets to leave the Royals 97-9 and it was only late cameos from Ramon Simmonds and Mujeeb Ur Rahman that enabled the Royals to post 125.

 Although the Amazon Warriors lost Chandrapaul Hemraj and Shai Hope in the PowerPlay, Shakib played an enterprising innings to take the drama out of the chase. His knock of 53 came off 30 balls and laid the foundation for the Amazon Warriors to win with five over to spare.

 The two sides will now do battle again in the first qualifier on Tuesday to determine who will earn the right to go straight to the Hero CPL final.

Scores: Guyana Amazon Warriors 126-5 (Shakib 53, Gurbaz 22; McCoy 2-22, Mayers 1-20) beat Barbados Royals 125 (Holder 42, Khan 20; Shepherd 3-14, Paul 2-9) by 5 wickets.

Stafanie Taylor scored an unbeaten half-century to lead the West Indies Women to a four-wicket victory over New Zealand in the final ODI match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Sunday.

Taylor scored an 89-ball 51 before retiring as the West Indies Women, chasing 168, scored 169-6 with 38 balls remaining for a consolation victory in the three-match series.

Lauren Down scored 53 and Amelia Carr, 30, in New Zealand’s total of 168 in 48.1 overs. The West Indies Women bowled well to restrict New Zealand and were led by their captain, Hayley Matthews, who dismissed Down, finishing with figures of 2-23 from her 10 overs.

Spinner Karishma Ramharack took 2-28 and Afy Fletcher 2-31 as the attack gave the batters an achievable target.

After the West Indies lost the wickets of Natasha McLean and Shakibi Gujnabi early in the chase, Matthews scored 40, and with Taylor, put on 81 for the third wicket before she was dismissed by Brooke Halliday who took 1-16 from her four overs.

Taylor retired hurt shortly thereafter leaving, Aaliyah Alleyne to score an s unbeaten 27  as she and Shakera Selman (5) took the West Indies Women across to victory.

 West Indies and Barbados Royals’ pace bowler Obed McCoy has come in for high praise from teammate and Barbados Royals' bowling partner Jason Holder.

The two are the leading wicket-takers for the Barbados-based CPL franchise and both have been selected in the West Indies squad for the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia.

The Barbados Royals lead the 2022 Hero CPL standings with 16 points having lost only one of the nine games played so far thanks in part to the bowling of Holder, who has so far taken 14 wickets in the tournament, second only to the St Lucia Kings’ Alzarri Joseph, who has 16.

McCoy has taken 13 wickets which puts him tied for third in the standings for most wickets. The former West Indies captain believes that the Vincentian’s bowling talent is among the best he has seen in recent times.

"He's probably one of the most skilled bowlers that we've produced in a very long time, and it is showing - he has been successful around the world,” said Holder of his Royals’ bowling partner in a recent interview with ESPNCricinfo.

“He has played in the IPL, county cricket, he has done well in the Caribbean as well. Again, if he continues to develop, and understands himself, then nobody can really stop him.”

Holder opined that McCoy has all the tools to be even better and he feels obliged to help the young bowler get to the lofty heights.

"He has got the talent and all the deliveries you could think of,” he said indicating that he wants to help as many of the upcoming bowlers as he can.

“So, it is important for me to continue to help them. Whatever they ask, just try to have answers for them. If I don't have answers at a particular time, try my best to find them and help them as much as I can. It's like being a parent.”

Right-arm pace bowler Cheryl-Ann Fraser has been selected to replace Shamilia Connell in the 13-player squad for the third and final CG United One Day International (ODI) against New Zealand Women to be played on Sunday, September 25, at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.

Newly appointed Jamaica Reggae Boyz head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson is hoping to conduct a valuable assessment during the team’s upcoming friendly international against Argentina.

The Reggae Boyz and the Albiceleste, led by football superstar Lionel Messi, will lock horns at the Red Bulls Stadium in New York, on Tuesday, for the fourth time in history.  Hallgrímsson, who officially took charge of the team last week, admits the former world champions are a difficult prospect to face on his debut but hopes to gleam some valuable insights.

“It going to be a good contest and at least we’ll know where we stand and what we need to improve," Hallgrímsson said.

“For me, it’s a time to learn, a time to observe, time to evaluate.  Then after this camp, we can see what we need to change if we need to change anything.  Find out what is working and what is not working.”

In three matches Jamaica has not managed to secure a result against Argentina losing all three matches that the teams have played.

Waterhouse defender Ricardo Thomas has been drafted in to replace injured Ipswich Town defender Greg Leigh ahead of Jamaica’s friendly international against Argentina.

Leigh was expected to join up with the rest of the team in the United States on Friday but suffered an injury in the team’s 2-2 draw against Sheffield Wednesday earlier this week.  Initially, the defender was thought to have just suffered a bruise to the area but subsequent scans revealed a compression fracture.

The injury is now expected to keep the player out of action for an extended spell.

“He, unfortunately, picked something up at the back end of the Sheffield Wednesday game, which was initially thought to be bone bruising,” the team’s manager Kieran McKenna said.

“At that point, it was touch-and-go whether he was going to go away for international duty.

 “He’s had some scans this week, just to make sure, and unfortunately he has a compression fracture of his leg and will be out for a longer period of time. That’s a disappointing one for Greg and for us as well," he added.

The 29-year-old has made 8 appearances for the Jamaica national team and last played against Honduras in March.  Thomas has played 10 matches for the national team and was last on the bench in the team’s Nation’s League match against Mexico in June.

Legendary West Indies fast bowler Sir Andy Roberts believes not having a settled team could make things difficult for the team in the upcoming T20 World Cup qualifiers.

In order to officially book a spot in Australia next month, the two-time champions must advance from a play-off group that will also feature Ireland, Scotland, and Zimbabwe.  The team will start as heavy favourites to advance from the group but the squad will feature several players that have not been in the squad for the last few months and even some who have never played the format internationally.

Since a disastrous campaign at the 2021 World Cup, the Windies have played 22 matches, but a few of the players added to the squad have not played in the majority of them over the past year.  For instance, Evin Lewis has not played since the last tournament, Johnson Charles has not played for the team since 2016, Sheldon Cottrell has played sparingly since the start of the year, and Yannic Cariah and Raymond Reifer are yet to play in the format.

Having played so many matches Roberts believes the team should have been already been using a settled squad ahead of the tournament.

“We don’t have a settled team and that is the biggest problem.  You don’t know what your teammate is capable of doing because he has just come into the team,” Roberts told the Mason and Guest Radio program.

“When West Indies was at its best, we had a settled team for five, ten years.  If you check out Australia, Australia has a settled team, and Pakistan has a settled team.  India is fiddling around with the team and just look at the issues they have been having.  You need settled teams,” he added.

“We are going with a number of new players, new to the international scene.  We knew for a long time that the World Cup was going to be this year, so we should have been trying our best to make sure we have a unit that is ready to go from ball one.”

The threat of heavy rain in Jamaica over the upcoming weekend has caused the postponement of rounds six and seven of the ongoing Jamaica T20 Bashment.

CEO of the Jamaica Cricket Association, Courtney Francis, issued a memo to all teams notifying them of the postponement on Thursday of the matches that were scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

“In light of the information from the Met Office of Jamaica, the JCA T20 Bashment matches originally scheduled for this weekend of September 24 & 25, 2022 are rescheduled for the following weekend of October 1 & 2, 2022. The fixtures will be adjusted by one week to accommodate the remainder of the competition. Best if we err on the side of caution,” Francis said.

“The JCA is impressing upon each individual to listen and watch for weather updates and advisories. Getting up to date information is an important part of you and your loved ones staying safe during what may be a challenging few days ahead,” he added.

Rounds six and seven are the last games of the preliminary round and will determine who advances to the quarterfinals.