Trinidad and Tobago Red Force have some catching up to do when day two of the Cricket West Indies Regional Four-Day Tournament round three resumes at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba on Thursday.
Red Force won the toss in the Cricket West Indies four-day championship at the Brian Lara Cricket Acedemy, Tarouba, San Fernando, Trinidad and inserted the Harpy Eagles.
Accordingly, In a game with not much promotion, the Guyana Harpy Eagles took on Red Force in the third round of the West Indies Championships yesterday at the Brian Lara Cricket in South Trinidad and a small but vocal gathering saw the host invite Guyana to bat on a track with tinge of green and outfield in steaming hot conditions.
Half centuries from Kevin Sinclair, Leon Johnson and Anthony Bramble propelled Guyana Harpy Eagles to 324 all out in 86.3 overs on the first day of their third-round clash against Trinidad and Tobago Red Force yesterday.
35-year-old Leon Johnson returned to form with a confident 68 from 99 balls with 11 fours.
The Harpy Eagles captain who made his First-Class debut in 2014 as a 16-year-old School Boy, shared in a 97-run stand with Savory who made 44 from 109 balls with four fours after they had joined forces with Guyana 33-3.
But strong middle-order partnerships from the visitors turned the game in their favour, temporarily, as Kevin Sinclair (69), skipper Johnson (62) and Anthony Bramble (56) all notched deserving half-centuries.
When eagles’s third wicket fell, Johsnon and Savory (44) rescued the innings by constructing a 97-run partnership. Savory hit four fours in his knock and carried Guyana to 130 before he was caught by Bryan Charles off Imran Khan’s bowling.
Ten runs later, the captain departed, but not after a stern 66 runs from 99 balls. At 140/5, new batsmen Bramble and Sinclair repaired the damage once more by putting on a 79-run stance to halt the Red Force’s progress. Bramble scored 56 off 56 balls, hitting a six and eight fours
All rounder Keemo Paul’s introduction soon collided with Sinclair, and the pair put on another 88-run partnership to further confuse the TT attack.
Sinclair and Paul made the Red Force’s bowling tough in the afternoon session as they showed consistency with the bat and found the boundaries regularly.
However, Sinclair took a catch to Jide Gooley to push Guyana to 307/7.
Savory got 44 and Paul made 46 – and both fell to Khan – before the Harpy Eagles lost their last four wickets for 17 in the span of 44 balls.
Khan managed to take the remaining three wickets for 17 runs while the Jaguars were all out for 324 runs. His lower-order heroics saw him emerge with best figures of 4/80, while Charles (3/85), Muhammad (2/31) and skipper Darren Bravo (1/32) were among the wickets.
Guyana batted for 86.3 overs. As the Red force began their chase later in the evening, they scored 7 runs in the one over they faced.
Opener Jeremy Solozano (5 not out) hit fast bowler Paul for a boundary in the very first delivery and squeezed in three more runs to set the stage for the second day. He is joined by Keagan Simmons who is yet to score.
Guyana Harpy Eagles Batting: 324 (Kevin Sinclair 69, Leon Johnson 62, Anthony Bramble 56, Keemo Paul 46, Kemol Savory 44
Red Force Bowling; Imran Khan 4-80, Bryan Charles 3-85, Uthman Muhammad 2-31) vs T&T RED FORCE seven without loss.