Jamaica Scorpions Head Coach Robert Haynes is urging his players to stick to the winning template from last week’s regional four-day tournament opening round when they take on hosts Leeward Islands Hurricanes, starting this morning.

The round two encounter is scheduled to bowl off at 9:00 (Jamaica time) at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.

Both teams began the campaign with dominant victories. The Scorpions brushed aside Windward Islands Volcanoes by 178 runs at Arnos Vale Ground in St Vincent, while the Hurricanes flattened West Indies Academy by 402 runs at Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua.

The Scorpions and the Hurricanes are joint third in the league table with 22.4 points each. Defending champions Guyana Harpy Eagles lead with 23.2, ahead of second-placed Trinidad and Tobago Red Force (22.6).

The lower half of the table comprises Barbados Pride (5.4), the Volcanoes (4.6), West Indies Academy (3), and Combined Campuses and Colleges (0.4).

Haynes indicated he is wary of the threat posed by the youthful Hurricanes team, captained by sidelined West Indies Test spinner Rahkeem Cornwall.

“The Leewards won the first game against the academy team in a very comprehensive fashion. But what we have to do is just to maintain the discipline that we showed in the first game against the Windwards,” the Scorpions head coach told the Jamaica Observer.

“The plans that we set out, we achieved them to the fullest against the Windwards. We always spoke about winning more sessions, and that’s exactly what we did over the four days of cricket. It doesn’t matter who we are playing against, at the end of the day we have to go out there and play the kind of cricket that we plan. And if Plan A doesn’t work, we have plan B.”

Last week, the Scorpions made scores of 337 and 277-7 declared and bowled out the Volcanoes for 195 and 241.

Out-of-favour West Indies Test batsman Jermaine Blackwood stood out with measured knocks of 109 and 75, while Captain John Campbell struck a quick-fire 79 in the first innings. Wicketkeeper/batsman Daniel Beckford, on first-class debut, was composed in contributing 39 and 50 not out.

Part-time medium pacer Blackwood and seam bowler Odean Smith took three wickets each in the first innings to derail the Volcanoes. But the most eye-catching performance came from 18-year-old debutant wrist spinner Redwood, who grabbed 7-72 in the second innings after going wicketless in the first.

Haynes lauded the individual and collective performances even as he noted how the team’s mindset was reflected in the batting approach in the opening round.

“The guys are listening, they understand their role and each player understands his responsibility. We want to be very positive, not just with [scoring] boundaries, but with the way we run between the wickets — that was really good [versus the Volcanoes],”. He said.

— Sanjay Myers