Jamaica's captain Tamar Lambert. - File

Jamaica's captain Tamar Lambert believes the team must focus on delivering a strong batting performance if they are to triumph when they face rivals Guyana in today's semi-final of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) at Sabina Park, starting at 10 a.m.

Jamaica, who are hunting a record fifth successive hold on the title, will enter the game with an unbeaten record, having recorded six straight outright victories. The wins also include an eight-wicket win over Guyana in the preliminary round of the tournament.

"I think that our batting will be very important because once we can bat for four sessions, then we should get a good total on the board," Lambert told Star Sports. "We have always done well in our bowling over the years, but sometimes it is our batting that let us down."

The team will be led in their batting by Donovan Pagon, who has so far scored 392 runs at an average of 35.63, and Lambert, who has notched 307 runs at 30.70.

good support

Their bowling will be spearheaded by leg-spinners Nikita Miller, who has taken 36 wickets at an average of 11.33 and Odean Brown, who has captured 29 wickets at 14.41. They are expected to get good support from medium pacer David Bernard Jr, who has taken 17 wickets at 16.05, and pacer Sheldon Cotterrell.

"We are very confident," said Lambert.

"We have some good players on our team and we also have some good youngsters, so we just need to go out there and showcase our talents to the Jamaican people and to the Caribbean people, as we have been playing some good cricket this season," Lambert said.

Guyana team, which will be captained by West Indies middle-order batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, ended the preliminary round in fourth place, with a record of three wins, two defeats and one draw.

Esuan Crandon, coach of Guyana, said he was very optimistic that the side will give a good account of themselves against the Jamaicans.

"We are confident that we can win against Jamaica, but we must give them due respect because they have been playing well throughout the competition," said Crandon.

"Captain Tamar Lambert has been leading them well and there have been some good performances from the other guys, and so we are not going to underrate them," he said.

The Guyanese will be banking on their leading runs scorers Narsingh Deonarine, who has scored 547 runs at an average of 49.72, and Assad Fudadin, who has notched 538 runs at an average of 53.80.

Their bowling will be led by Veerasammy Permaul, who has taken 28 wickets at an average of 21.78, and Devendra Bishoo, who has captured 16 wickets at 20.93.

Jamaica squad: Tamar Lambert - captain, David Bernard Jr, Odean Brown, Nikita Miller, Horace Miller, Jermaine Blackwood, Xavier Marshall, Andrew Richardson, Simon Jackson, Donovan Pagon, Brenton Parchment, Sheldon Cotterrell, Jamie Merchant.

Guyana squad: Shivnarine Chanderpaul - captain, Veerasammy Permaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Assad Fudadin, Hemraj Chanderpaul, Royston Crandon, Christopher Barnwell, Trevon Griffith, Brandon Bess, Ransford, Beaton, Leon Johnson, Derwin Christian, Devendra Bishoo.