Guyana feels the weight of the Royal Challengers

Caribbean T/20 champions, Guyana, felt the weight of the big league when they were soundly beaten by Royal Challengers Bangalore in their opening fixture of the Airtel Champions League on Sunday.{{more}}

The Guyanese, who captured the regional competition last month, lost by nine wickets when they met the star-studded Royal Challengers at SuperSport Park, Centurion, South Africa.

Chris Barnwell topscored with 30, and Sewnarine Chattergoon hit 18, as Guyana was dismissed for 103 off their 20 overs.

Jacques Kallis, 3 for 16, and Praveem Kumar, 2 for 22, did the damage for the Indian team.

Kallis, 43 not out; Rahul Dravid, 33; and Robin Uthappa, 25 not out; spared little time in reaching 106 for 1, in 12.2 overs, as they recorded a convincing win.

Guyana’s captain, Ramnaresh Sarwan, at the end of the match, acknowledged his team’s inexperience in this form of Cricket.

Last year, Trinidad and Tobago reached the finals in the inaugural competition, which was staged in India, but had to settle for the runner up spot to Australia’s New South Wales.

The Guyana players will be looking to redeem themselves on Thursday, when they face the Mumbai Indians at Durban and three days later engage the Highveld Lions at the Wanderers.

They crown off their campaign on September 21, with a meeting against the South Australia Redbacks also at the Wanderers.

The regional representatives boast a squad with little international experience with Sarwan being the most seasoned campaigner with 83 Tests and 156 One-Day Internationals.

Travis Dowlin, Chattergoon and Narsingh Deonarine have played for West Indies.They have just 18 Tests and 49 ODIs among them.

Additionally, none posses extensive T20 experience, playing just 27 T/20 Internationals altogether prior to Sunday’s sojourn in the big league. (RT)