WITH a four-match losing skid broken, Jamaica Tallawahs are hoping to push on when they face Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) leaders Guyana Amazon Warriors at Sabina Park today. The game, the fourth of the Tallawahs’ five home fixtures, is scheduled for 7:00 pm.

Chadwick Walton played a match-winning, captain’s knock in leading the Tallawahs to their first win of the campaign — a four-wicket result over Barbados Tridents on Sunday. The 34-year-old Walton scored an unbeaten 42-ball 51 to guide the Tallawahs to 145-6 in 18.3 overs, after they had restricted the Tridents to 140-9 in their 20-over allotment.

The Tallawahs remain at the foot of the six-team standing on two points with an inferior net run rate after conceding 1011 runs in five games, while scoring 951. They suffered 22- and 41-run defeats to Trinbago Knight Riders, as well as four- and five-wicket losses to St Kitts and Nevis Patriots and St Lucia Zouks, respectively.

They will be seeking to put a dent in the Guyana Amazon Warriors’ unbeaten record. They are top of the pile on eight points. Ramnaresh Sarwan, the Tallawahs assistant coach, said the mood in the camp is buoyant.

“We are very confident, as you said, we got the monkey off our back it’s just for us now to continue with the momentum and I think once we can run with that momentum we will be good,” he said.

Sarwan noted that they continue to monitor the readiness of star all-rounder Andre Russell after he was struck on the head while batting against St Lucia Zouks last week at Sabina Park.

“He [Russell] has been going through testing and everything seems to be OK at this time so we just have to wait and see what happens tomorrow and then we will see,” said the assistant coach.

While crediting the adjustment in the bowling department for their first win, Walton urged the continued support from Jamaican fans, which he believes provides added motivation to the players.

“It was a total team effort to start with; clearly we needed to change some things, so credit to the bowlers.

“We are also very happy that the fans came out and actually supported us and we’re hoping to see them come out again for the remainder of the home games, and just tune into TV and watch us when we are away and cheer just the same,” Walton noted.

As the Tallawahs’ second- highest run scorer with 166 runs at an average of 41.50, Walton, along with the destructive Chris Gayle and New Zealand’s Glenn Phillips, will again be expected to play a crucial role with the bat, if they are to get by Amazon Warriors.

Gayle, who on Sunday became the first batsman to reach 13,000 runs in T20s, currently head the Tallawahs batting pile with 205 runs at an average of 41.00, while Phillips has 162 runs at an average of 32.40.

“Chris is just a phenomenal player and I’m just so happy to be a part of teams that he’s playing on. I just don’t want a ball to him, so I’m happy that he’s on my team,” Walton said with a smile.

Young pacer Oshane Thomas head the bowling chart with seven wickets, followed by Afghanistan’s slow left-arm chinaman bowler, Zahir Khan with four and off spinner Ramaal Lewis with three.

However, the Shoaib Malikcaptained Warriors have been meagre with their bowling conceding only 549 runs in four games. Their batting, on the other hand, is a little suspect, as they have only mustered 616 runs with their highest run scorer being Chanderpaul Hemraj with 138, followed by Shimron Hetmyer with 119 and Jamaica’s Brandon King with 84. Malik said he is satisfied with their start to the season.

“If you look at our record it’s pretty good and since we are on the road we are just putting in the right combination based on who we are playing against. Being consistent at the beginning or the middle of the tournament. Consistency is always important and so far the team is doing well,” he said.