The Trinidad and Tobago Red Force will leave St Kitts with four-wicket loss to Leeward Islands Hurricanes late on the final day of their West Indies Championship third-round match at Warner Park in St Kitts, yesterday.
For Red Force head coach David Furlonge and his players, there was no shame in the defeat after they recovered from a disastrous start to take the game down to the final hour.
While Furlonge conceded that “it was a disappointing loss,” he said the way the players rebounded after the first day augers well for the rest of the campaign.
“We had one bad day on the first day and that cost us,” Furlonge told after having what he described as a positive post-match team meeting.
Having been dismissed for 137 on the first day and allowing the Hurricanes to reach 105 for one at stumps, an early finish to the contest seemed likely.
However, the Red Force rebounded with an improved performance with the ball to dismiss the Hurricanes for 318 before rallying with the bat in their second innings to post 342 and set the home team a victory target of 162 in the final two sessions of the match.
“We showed fight straight to the end, even when they needed about 30 to win. I think we lost the game in the end but the fellows could hold their heads high. We fought all the way after a difficult first day,” Furlonge praised.
Looking back at the match, he said had his side scored over 400 in the second innings, they could have come out on top.
The Hurricanes batters were shaky at the start of their chase, but Keacy Carty (53) and Jewel Andrew (48) put them on the path to their second win of the campaign despite the best efforts the Red Force bowlers.
Orthodox left-arm spinner Khary Pierre finished with four for 69, while pacer Anderson Phillip grabbed two for 26 but the Red Force just didn’t have enough runs on the board.
Resuming yesterday from an overnight score of 285 for six and with a lead of 104, the Red Force lost skipper Joshua Da Silva for 34, caught behind off Colin Archibald having just added three runs to the total.
However, the Red Force lower-order batters continued to resist and added a further 57 with before Jayden Seales (11) was bowled by Terrance Warde just before lunch.
The Red Force bowled one over before the break but it wasn’t until after lunch that they started to make inroads into the Hurricanes batting line-up.
Phillip struck straight after the interval, with Mikyle Louis (four) looking to pull and top-edging to Tion Webster at mid-off with the score on four.
The T&T pacer also accounted for Warde (ten), caught behind by Da Silva with the score on 26.
Pierre sent Jahmar Hamilton back for 29 as the batter cut straight to Phillip at extra cover with a further 91 runs needed to win.
The hosts reached 106 for three at tea, needing just 56 more, with WI Under-19 player Andrew and Carty unbeaten on 23 and 33 respectively.
The pair took the hosts to brink of victory in the final session before Pierre added some late drama.
He removed Andrew caught at extra cover by Cephas Cooper with the Leewards 21 runs away from victory.
Carty then struck Bryan Charles for consecutive fours to reach his half century off 132 balls as the Hurricanes went past 150 but the batter was out in the next over, caught on the midwicket boundary off Pierre for 53, with ten runs needed.
Kieran Powell fell lbw to Pierre for two in the same over before Rahkeem Cornwall and Jeremiah Louis settled the matter.
Watch
Don’t ever discount Rakheem Cornwall from pulling off the exceptional
Serious grab by the bowler that has passed the 300 first class wickets mark
The Leeward Islands Hurricanes are on top against T&T pic.twitter.com/foDvlXEXu4
— Isaac Lockett (@isaac_lockett) February 23, 2024
Summarized scores:
At Warner Park
RED FORCE 137, 60.2 overs (Jyd Goolie 30; Colin Archibald 3/28, Jeremiah Louis 3/38) & 342, 133.3 overs (Jyd Goolie 64, Jason Mohammed 49, Tion Webster 38, Cephas Cooper 36, Terrance Hinds 34, Joshua Da Silva 34; Rahkeem Cornwall 3/68, Daniel Doram 3/80, Jeremiah Louis 2/70)
vs HURRICANES 318, 98.2 overs (Jewel Andrew 87, Kieran Powell 65, Jeremiah Louis 41; Anderson Phillip 4/62, Bryan Charles 3/81) & 165-6 (Keacy Carty 53, Jewel Andrew 48; Khary Pierre 4-69)
—Hurricanes won by four wickets.