Jamaica Scorpions Captain Paul Palmer says they are confident going into today’s start of the seventh-round regional four-day cricket match against hosts Guyana Jaguars.

“We’re quite upbeat as a group. We’re looking forward to the challenge to play Guyana who are top of the table. They are in their backyard, so we know they’ll be coming hard and we’re prepared to deal with that,” Palmer told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

While the Scorpions have won their last two matches, including the tense one-wicket victory over home team Leeward Islands Hurricanes last weekend, the league-leading Jaguars have hit a snag.

Guyana Jaguars, winners of the previous four editions of the four-day tournament, are out front in the six-franchise table with 92 points from six matches, but two losses in a row have dented their aura of invincibility.

Conversely, Jamaica Scorpions, who began the season with three consecutive losses, have quietly moved from last to fifth. They have 51.2 points from five matches.

Windward Islands Volcanoes are second with 69 points, followed by Leeward Islands Hurricanes (64.4), Barbados Pride (54.2), and cellar team Trinidad and Tobago Red Force (50.2).

The 27-year-old Palmer said his team is committed to continuing the upward trend.

“We’re looking to climb the table. We have started to climb, we are now in fifth position — above Trinidad — so we need to continue winning games, continue to execute our plans well and then see how it goes from there,” he explained.

While the Scorpions’ bowlers have done well so far this campaign, the batting has been underwhelming with the team often lacking the capacity to bat out a day and rarely ever compiling totals of 250 runs or more.

“As a batting group we are struggling, but the approach will be to occupy the crease for as long as possible because you can’t make runs back in the pavilion. We’re trying as a group to really spend time out in the middle. We want to wear bowlers down and try to get runs while doing that,” said the Scorpions skipper.

The spinners have taken the bulk of the wickets for the Scorpions this season, but incisive spells from seamers Jerome Taylor, Rovman Powell and Derval Green set up the win over the Hurricanes.

Palmer noted that the spinners could have a say if the pitch at Guyana National Stadium is typically favourable to the slower bowlers.

“The fast bowlers have been bowling excellently, but we’re just waiting to see the conditions to assess how well it supports fast bowling. Guyana is known to support spinners, so we’re looking for the spinners to do most of the work this game,” he told the Observer.