Red Force set 254 to win against Pride
ST JOHN’S – Led by half-centuries from Justin Greaves, Jonathan Carter and Roston Chase, Barbados Pride set Trinidad & Tobago Red Force 254 to win their West Indies Super50 Cup match at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground (VRCG) today in Antigua.
Greaves hit the top score of 62 from 81 balls, Chase supported with a run-a-ball 56 and Carter made 56 from 70 balls. Pride, put in to bat, reached 253 for nine from their allocation of 50 overs.
Pride entered the final 10 overs of their innings on 192 for three, but Red Force captain Kieron Pollard, bowling his uncomplicated medium-pace, grabbed a career-best five for 17 from three overs to be the pick of his side’s bowlers.
Greaves gave the innings a stable start, sharing solid partnerships with Zachary McCaskie and Shamarh Brooks before he was dismissed in the 25th over and Pride reached the halfway mark on 106 for three.
Chase came to the crease and shared 103 for the fourth wicket with the left-handed Carter, interspersing periods of steady accumulation of runs with boundaries to carry the Pride past 200.
The customary late charge for Pride suffered a setback, when Carter was caught inside the long-on boundary off left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein from a lofted drive in the 43rd over.
But Pride’s final fling was derailed, when Pollard claimed Chase, captain Jason Holder and left-hander Dominic Drakes in the space of four balls in the 48th over before he snared Ashley Nurse and Tevyn Walcott in the final over.
Pride made one change to their line-up from the previous match with left-arm pacer Drakes replacing fellow pacer Akeem Jordan.
Red Force made two changes with opener Kjorn Ottley and leg-spin bowling all-rounder Imran Khan replacing batsmen Lendl Simmons and Darren Bravo.
The Barbados side slumped to defeat in their first two matches, first by 56 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern Method against current leaders Guyana Jaguars in their rain-marred opener last Monday at the Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG). They also lost two days later against home team Leeward Islands Hurricanes by four wickets.
Conversely, Red Force won their first two matches in convincing fashion, toppling Jamaica Scorpions by five wickets last Thursday at the VRCG before brushing aside Windward Islands Volcanoes by four wickets two days ago at the CCG.
Pride are currently fifth in the standings with no points and Red Force have eight points, the same as Jaguars, but they are second in the table because of an inferior net run-rate. (AR)