TAROUBA, Trinidad, CMC – A brilliant spell of left-arm spin bowling from Jomel Warrican topped a defiant half-century from Denesh Ramdin to give Barbados Pride the upper hand over Trinidad & Tobago Red Force in the Regional 4-Day Championship on Friday.
Warrican grabbed 6-52 from 30 overs, but Ramdin was unbeaten on 74, as Red Force reached 146 for eight, in reply to Pride’s first innings total of 316, at the close on the second day of their seventh-round match at the Brian Lara Cricket Ground.
The 25-year-old Warrican, who played the last of his four Tests for West Indies last January against Australia in Sydney, flattened the Red Force top order and only Ramdin with a knock that includes seven fours from 177 balls in 166 minutes has stood in the way of the Pride running through the home team.
Left-hander opener Jeremy Solozano made 41 and was the only other Red Force batsman to pass 20, after the hosts wrapped up the Pride’s first innings about 40 minutes before lunch.
Pride, starting the day on 267 for five, lost their last five wickets for 38 in less than 100 balls with club-mates Kevin Stoute and Justin Greaves making 31 and 30 respectively.
Leg-spinner Imran Khan was the most successful Red Force bowler with 4-81 from 41.2 overs, left-arm fast medium bowler Daniel St Clair ended with 3-73 from 21 overs and off-spinner Bryan Charles finished with 2-58 from 20 overs.
Openers Amir Jangoo and Solozano then carried Red Force to four without loss in seven overs before lunch and found free scoring difficult after the interval.
Warrican replaced Greaves after the 16th over and quickly got into stride. He had Jangoo lbw for 14 in his second over, held on to a return catch to dismiss Isaiah Rajah for a duck in his third over and had Ewart Nicholson caught at slip for the same score in his fifth over, as the home team slid from 37 without loss to 39 for three at the refreshment break.
Ramdin came to the crease and with Solozano batted through the remainder of the session to carry Red Force to 74 for three at tea.
After the break, Solozano carried Red Force to within touching distance of the 100-run mark before Warrican had him caught at forward short leg and held a second return catch to dismiss Akeil Cooper for one in successive overs.
Red Force were 98 for five and Imran Khan arrived to defy the Pride attack for a shade under half-hour, ushering Ramdin to his 50 and taking the hosts to 125 for five before Warrican bowled him for 10.
Barbados-born all-rounder Roshon Primus followed three overs later caught at square leg for three off Kenroy Williams’ uncomplicated off-spin, leaving Red Force 134 for seven.
St. Clair came to the crease and frustrated the Pride for close to 40 minutes before he was trapped lbw to Walsh for one off the penultimate ball of the day’s final over.
Earlier, the Pride batsmen chose valour over discretion, as they chased down the 300-run mark before the 110th-over cut-off mark to achieve a third batting point.
Before they achieved their objective though, Stoute added just two to his overnight score before he was caught behind off St. Clair, who bowled Greaves four overs later, before Khan had Mario Rampersaud caught in the deep for one.
Walsh joined West Indies Under-19 World Cup-winning all-rounder Shamar Springer and carried the Pride past 300 before his opposite number Khan bowled him and Warrican off successive balls to bring the curtain down on the innings.
Pride started the match placed fifth in the League table with 56.8 points and have so far earned three batting points, after reaching 303 for eight at the cut-off mark, in addition to two bowling points.
Red Force entered the match positioned third with 67.6 points and have so far gained two bowling points, due to taking eight Pride wickets at the cut-off, and 0.6 pace bowling points, but they are yet to collect a batting point which will be a major objective when play resumes today.
