Trinidad and Tobago Red Force and the Windward Islands Hurricanes were the only two teams to record wins in the latest round of the West Indies Cricket Board’s Regional 4-Day Championships which concluded on Sunday.
Joshua Da SilvaPaul Palmer
The host side, Red Force, won a match against tournament leaders Barbados Pride by a commanding 148 runs in Tarouba, while Hurricanes squeezed past the improving Jamaica Scorpions by two wickets in Grenada.
Red Force batted first and posting 239 in their first innings, to which the Pride replied with 260. With a deficit of 21 runs, the Red Force posted a massive 350 all out in the second innings to set the Pride a target of 330 for victory.
And a disciplined bowling effort by the home side restricted the Pride to 182 on the final day, to enable Red Force to claim victory.
Red Force’s 1st innings was powered by Joshua Da Silva’s 77 and a resistant knock of 40 from Kyle Mayers at the top of the order; while Chemar Holder led with 4–68 and got support from Mayers (3-39) and Kevin Stoute (3–30) for the Pride.
Shane Dowrich and Ashley Nurse were the main contributors to Pride’s first innings lead. Dowrich narrowly missed out on a century when he was dismissed for 96, while Nurse made a fighting 81 batting down the order.
Force’s Anderson Phillip claimed 6–59, while Uthman Muhammad, Bryan Charles and Imran Khan supported with a wicket each.
Hope and Jason Mohammed then took control of the match on the penultimate day. Hope applied a bit more focus in the second innings, and got to 67 as he featured in a partnership with Mohammed, who scored an unbeaten 115.
Akeal Hosein stuck around with Mohammed to ensure he reached the landmark. Hosein struck 55 runs from 52 deliveries to help solidify his team’s chances of a triumph. Nurse then led the bowling for Barbados with 4–72.
Muhammad and Hosein returned to wreck the Pride’s plans on the final day. Muhammed claimed 4–28, while Hosein bagged 3–44, and Khan supported with 2–46. Kraigg Brathwaite (36), Mayers (40), Stoute (33) and Holder (34 not out) all tried valiantly, but the task was too huge.
Hurricanes snatch victory from the Scorpions
In another shocking turn of events, Hurricanes put on a sterling performance to turn the tide on the Scorpions.
Scorpions posted a dominant first innings score of 381, compliments of centuries from Nkrumah Bonner (135), and Paul Palmer who was left unbeaten on 114, and a resistant innings of 68 from Jermaine Blackwood. These three batsmen stood firm as Preston McSween claimed 6–64.
In reply, Devon Smith (72) and Keron Cottoy (48 not out) led the way, but Hurricanes only reached 217, which meant they trailed by 164 runs going into the other half of the showdown. Marquino Mindley had 4–48 and Jamie Merchant bagged 3–36 for the Jamaicans.
Then, in one of the biggest batting collapses of the season, Jamaica were bowled out for 60, which tallied with their lead, to accumulate 224. McSween had 3–23, Ryan John had 4–26 and Kenneth Dember claimed 3–9.
Needing 225 for victory, Hurricanes’ middle order played well to shepherd the squad over the line by two wickets on the final day.
Andre Fletcher top scored with a watchful 71, while Sunil Ambris supported with 56. Scores of 24, 22 and 21 came from Cottoy, Emmanuel Stewart and Kaveem Hodge respectively.
The next round commences on Thursday, March 12, as Guyana Jaguars host the Pride, Red Force host the Hurricanes, and Volcanoes tackle the Scorpions.
