Red Force power to Super50 final after brushing aside Scorpions

Trinidad and Tobago Red Force have stormed to the final of the CG Insurance Regional Super50 Cup with a six-wicket win against the Jamaica Scorpions in the first of the semi-final matches to be played.

Red Force have kept their record perfect in this tournament, Ravi Rampaul’s 4-29 in 10 overs having led a collective team effort that included half-centuries from Lendl Simmons and Nicholas Pooran in chasing 256.
Red Force Captain Kieron Pollard won the toss and opted to field first. After right-arm pacer Anderson Phillip snapped up the wicket of the Scorpions’ Aldane Thomas with the score on 5-1, John Campbell and Brandon King added 108 runs to revive the Scorpions’ innings.

After King was eventually bowled by Phillip for an 81-ball 58, which included five fours and one six, Andre McCarthy partnered Campbell with the score at 113-2, scored in 27.1 overs, and these senior batsmen took the score to 171-3 in 36.1 overs. McCarthy looked aggressive in his 29-ball 35, which was decorated with three fours and one six.
Skipper Rovman Powell came and went for a 12-ball 16, and Fabian Allen was caught by Pooran off the probing Rampaul, thereby reducing the Scorpions to 203-5 in 41.6 overs. Rampaul kept things tight, and the Scorpions’ scoring rate was kept below par despite Campbell’s presence at the crease.
Eventually, the left-handed opener Campbell fell for 88, which came off 131 balls and included four boundaries and a solitary six.

At 226-6 in 45.5 overs, the Scorpions lacked the firepower at the back end despite Nkrumah Bonner’s 16-ball 20, thus the Jamaicans ended their innings on 255-7, scored in 50 overs.
Rampaul was the star bowler, claiming 4-29 in 10 overs, while Phillip claimed 2-41 in seven overs.
In response, Evin Lewis and Lendl Simmons put 63 runs on the board in 10 overs before the opening wicket fell when Lewis attempted to hit another six. He contributed 24 runs from the 31 balls he faced.

Darren Bravo (19), edging one to the keeper, departed with the score at 98-2, but Lendl Simmons continued to score quickly. His innings came to an end after he had faced 70 balls and scored 68 runs, which were decorated with three sixes and seven fours.
Leading batsman in the tournament, Jason Mohammed, chipped in with a 71-ball 41, but the talented Nicholas Pooran and skipper Kieron Pollard added an unbeaten 58-runs in a partnership. Pooran eventually was not out on 54 from 40 balls, inclusive of four fours and two sixes, while Pollard’s 36 came off 18 balls, and was decorated with five sixes and one four as Red Force ended on 256-4 in 42.1 overs.
Odean Smith had 2-54 while Rampaul was adjudged the CG Insurance Player of the Match. Red Force will await the determination of either the Guyana Jaguars or the Windward Islands Volcanoes as their opponents in the grand final to be played on February 27.