(Trinidad Express) The Trinidad and Tobago Red Force’s hopes of lifting the West Indies Championship trophy were dented when they fell a comprehensive 223-run defeat against the Jamaica Scorpions on the third day of their penultimate match at the at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba on Friday.
A poor batting display on the second day of the contest on Thursday left the hosts 201 runs in arrears after they were dismissed for 171 replying to the Scorpions’ first innings effort of 372.
A better bowling performance yesterday saw the visitors crash from 20 for three at the start of the day to 187 all out to set the Red Force 389 to win in a little over four sessions. But the task was too much for the Red Force who were dismissed for 165 in the final hour as they fell to their first defeat of the campaign.
With the pitch already deteriorating, the Red Force lost Kamil Pooran, bowled by Marquino Mindley for four in the third over as they started the chase on the back foot. Amir Jangoo joined Cephas Cooper and took the Red Force to dinner at 32 for one but he was bowled by Odean Smith in the second over of the final session for 18 as the innings started to wobble.
The innings went into full decline when Smith removed Cooper (24) and Joshua Da Silva (16) leaving the Red F9orce in a battle to survive the remainder of the session.
That became almost an impossible task after spinner Brad Barnes snapped up both Jason Mohammed (23) and Khary Pierre (eight) at the start of the final hour to trigger the final collapse.
Yannic Cariah, who suffered a hamstring injury on the first day, was also bowled by Barnes for a “duck”.
The Red Force tried to counter, with Joshua James smashing the off-break bowler for six but Barnes hit back immediately, bowling the Tobagonian two balls later when he attempted another big shot and missed the ball completely.
Bryan Charles and Terrance Hinds had some fun towards the close, with the former playing aggressively with consecutive fours off Ojay Shields and a couple more boundaries off Abhijai Mansingh and Barnes to take T&T past the 150-run mark—a moral victory if nothing else.
But Charles was eventually bowled by Mansingh for 28 and the innings closed with Shannon Gabriel falling in similar fashion to the same bowler without scoring.
Earlier, the Scorpions’ overnight batters Javelle Glenn and Brandon King survived and early interrogation from pacers James and Gabriel to take the visitors to 50 for three in the first hour.
King took the Scorpions to milestone with a straight four off James, while Glenn played the patience game at the other end, frustrating the hosts, who had some close calls in the first hour without getting the breakthrough.
The Red Force spinners also created some pressure in the second hour before Bryan Charles eventually found the edge of Glenn’s bat, the ball going into the safe hands of wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva for 22 before the tea break.
But King continued to flourish, reaching his 50 off 100 balls as the Scorpions went into the first interval on 99 for four with an overall lead of 300.
The wickets continued to come for the Red Force on a wicket that saw some ball keep low and other move sharply.
Pierre struck with the first delivery after tea, trapping Brad Barnes lbw for five.
King played a few more shots in the second session, smashing Charles for two fours in one over and a six in another but the off-spinner had the final say.
He bowled the sweeping Aldane Thomas behind his back for 22 before King edged a forward defensive shot to first slip 11 runs short of a ton as the Red Force wrapped up the innings quickly.
When it was their turn with the ball, the Scorpions’ bowlers made sure they stayed on top to secure their third win of the season.
