Scorpions face defeat against Red Force
JAMAICA Scorpions face an uphill task of getting by Trinidad and Tobago Red Force heading into the final day of play, as they seek to avoid a third-consecutive defeat and second on the trot at home in the 2018-19 West Indies Four-day Cricket Championship.
The Scorpions, requiring 325 for victory, once again squandered a positive start by openers Oraine Williams (56) and Chadwick Walton (26) in the match at Sabina Park. They were labouring at 108-5 at close yesterday, requiring a further 217 runs with five second innings wickets remaining.
Guyanese-born left-hander Assad Fudadin, not out on six, and Rovman Powell, on two, will return to the middle for the Scorpions with play set to resume this morning.
Earlier the Red Force, resuming their second innings on 62-2, slipped through the grasp of the Scorpions, as they went on to post 233, adding to their 91-run first-innings lead.
Scores: Red Force 203 (66 overs) & 233 (92.4 overs); Scorpions 112 (38.3 overs) & 108-5 (37 overs).
Nightwatchman Khary Pierre led with a patient 46 off 142 balls. Nikita Miller, the slow left-arm orthodox bowler, was again the pick of the Scorpions’ bowling attack with 7-87 from 32.4 overs, to end with match figures of 12-149.
Pierre and left-hander Darren Bravo picked up where they left off for the Red Force, as they added 30 runs from their overnight total in bright conditions on a pitch which continued to favour the batsmen.
Bravo added 18 runs to his 20 from overnight, before offering a catch to Scorpions captain Paul Palmer off seamer, Oshane Thomas. His 100-ball innings included three boundaries and a solitary six.
Pierre, who resumed on two, pressed on and added a further 22 for the fourth wicket with Jason Mohammed (14), whose innings lasted only 19 balls before he was undone by a quicker delivery from Miller.
Captain Denesh Ramdin joined Pierre in the middle and the two delayed the Scorpions’ progress, pushing the Red Force to 155-4 at lunch with an overall lead of 246.
However, Miller broke the 48-run stand after the break when he had Ramdin caught at mid-on by substitute fielder Jermaine Levy’s diving forward to accept a low catch.
The 27-year-old Pierre fell four runs shy of what would have been a deserved half-century soon after, when seamer Reynard Leveridge nipped the edge and wicketkeeper Aldaine Thomas collected just above the waist. The left-hander struck one four and a six in his patient 142-ball knock.
Leveridge also had Yannic Cariah caught behind for 10, as the Scorpions clawed their way back into the contest.
And despite Jamaican-born Odean Smith scoring a 33-ball 25, the Scorpions wrapped up the innings fairly quickly.
It was a brisk start by Williams and Walton, who posted a solid 89-run opening stand in the Scorpions reply as they took Red Force bowlers to task with confident stroke play.
But Pierre, bowling slow left-arm orthodox, tickled the edge of Williams’ bat for wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin to do the rest in bringing the batsman’s 67-ball knock to an end.