JAMAICA Tallawahs batsman Nkrumah Bonner believes he can have an impact in this season’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL), though until Saturday he had not featured in Twenty20 (T20) cricket since 2016.

“It’s been a while since I played a T20 [game]; I’ve been focusing on red-ball cricket. Hopefully, I get the opportunity to stabilise that [Tallawahs’] middle order — that’s my main role — then I can explode near the end,” he said ahead of his team’s second loss of the tournament, a 14-run failure versus Guyana Amazon Warriors in Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday.

Given the chance against the Guyana-based franchise, Bonner was harshly given out leg before wicket for only four as batsmen on both teams struggled on a pitch which produced variable pace and bounce.

The Jamaican’s previous game in the format was four years ago against the Amazon Warriors. Then he also made four in a Tallawahs defeat.

Bonner, 31, has impressed in regional cricket over the past two seasons. In the last domestic four-day championship he was hugely successful for Jamaica Scorpions, mixing style and aggression with superb technique to compile 523 runs in 13 innings at an average of 58.11.

He was expectedly named to the West Indies squad for their Test series in England last month. The regional side went down 1-2 as the middle-order batsman sat on the sidelines for all three matches.

Though yet to make his Test début, Bonner played two T20 Internationals for the senior team between 2011 and 2012.

He said backing his own abilities will be essential if he is to be successful in the 2020 CPL.

“The short version goes by quickly… it’s all about being confident and having a calm head, and definitely to read the situation and play accordingly. You just have to go out there and be positive,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Bonner said the Tallawahs — two-time former champions — have the quality to add to their trophy cabinet this season.

“I think it’s a very balanced team. I think on paper we have one of the better teams. The bench is strong as well, so that’s a very good sign for any team. Once we set up games in the middle I can see us winning a lot of games.

“We have a good mix with power at the top, and power at the bottom and a fairly experienced middle order. We have some good spinners and we have fast bowlers, so we have good mix and we’ve bonded well. I definitely expect big things from us,” he said.

The Tallawahs’ next outing is against the Amazon Warriors, set for Port-of-Spain tomorrow.

The 2020 CPL tournament was scheduled to be staged across several venues in the region between August 19 and September 26, but changes were forced due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The rescheduled competition began last Tuesday and is slated to run until September 10. All matches are being played behind closed doors at Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain and Brian Lara Cricket Stadium in Tarouba.

Barbados Tridents are holders of the title.