Trinidad and Tobago Red Force and West Indies B pocketed contrasting wins as the Regional Super50 got underway in Trinidad on Wednesday.
At Queen’s Park Oval, Red Force recovered from an early wobble to convincingly beat defending champions Windward Islands Volcanoes by 76 runs in a match reduced to 37 overs, while over at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, West Indies B edged Canada by 10 runs in a high-scoring affair.
Batting first in a rain-affected game against the Volcanoes, Red Force slipped to 67-5 by the 18th over with Lendl Simmons (11), Evin Lewis (14), Kyle Hope (28), Denesh Ramdin (1) and Kieron Pollard (0) all gone cheaply.
It took a lower-order resurgence, led by Nicholas Pooran, to save the hosts from total embarrassment.
The left-handed Pooran smashed six sixes and seven fours in a career-best 89 off 62 to spur Red Force to 220-8 off the allotted 37 overs. Dwayne Bravo scored 22, but it was a seventh wicket partnership of 81 between Pooran and Narine that really injected life into the innings.
Narine struck two fours and two sixes in 35 off 29 balls, before Rayad Emrit chipped in with 17 not out off 11.
Kyle Mayers picked up 4-58 for Volcanoes, who were restricted to 145-8 in reply. Mayers topscored with 55 not out off 72 balls and Shane Shillingford chipped in with 29 to prolong the innings after Volcanoes tumbled to 67-6 by the 19th over.
Emrit was outstanding with the ball, claiming 3-5 from seven overs, three of which were maidens. Narine picked up 2-26.
Over at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, a brilliant hundred from skipper Marlon Samuels took West Indies B to 302-8 after they won the toss and elected to bat.
Samuels struck 101 off 96 balls (10x4s, 4x6s) and received solid support from Yannic Cariah (73 off 83; 4x4s, 4x6s) and Kimani Melius (46 off 47; 4x4s, 3x6s).
Romesh Don (5-31) and Salman Nazar (3-60) were the wicket-takers for Canada, who put up a spirited fight, but fell short of the target.
Their 292-8 was built on fifties from opener Rodrigo Thomas (63 off 55; 10x4s, 1×6); Srimantha Wijeyeratne (57 off 71; 3x4s, 1×6) and Harsh Thaker (52 off 40; 3x4s, 3x6s).
Bowling for West Indies B, Cariah (2-60), Chemar Holder (2-61) and Odean Smith (2-69) were among the wickets.
The Super50 will continue today (Thursday, October 4) with the Combined Campuses and Colleges playing Jamaica Scorpions at the Three Ws Oval from 09:00h, and Barbados Pride taking on Leeward Islands Hurricanes in a day/night game starting at 14:00h at Kensington Oval.
