The Red Force romped to victory in last Saturday’s final by 152 runs over the Guyana Jaguars. They were the only unbeaten team in the competition winning all seven matches giving skipper Kieron Pollard the honour of lifting the CG Insurance Super50 Sir Clive Lloyd Trophy.
In the wake of the impressive showing, CWI President Ricky Skerritt sent congratulatory messages to the team and the president of the TTCB President Azim Bassarath.
“This was a remarkable show of force by Trinidad from start to finish,” Skerritt said.
“It was a total team effort and Red Force found a match-winner at every stage. The other five franchise teams, including losing finalist Guyana Jaguars, all worked hard and showed good fighting qualities to varying degrees. But The Red Force was more dominant and consistent than ever, and simply unstoppable.”
The CWI president in a direct message to the TTCB boss said: “Congrats on a great tournament and final victory for TTCB and your team. This incredible performance should emphasize the vital importance of planning and preparation. I hope it has also reminded us why cricket administrators should not simply throw away senior players while these players still have such good value to their team and country. Successful cricket teams employ a healthy balance of youth and experience, just like your team did in winning this tournament.”
President Skerritt also thanked the Government of Antigua and Barbuda, local health and medical officials, the tournament officials and operators from the Antigua & Barbuda Cricket Association, The Leeward Islands Cricket Board, and CWI and tournament sponsor CG Insurance who worked diligently to make the CG InsuranceSuper50 event such a huge success.
The Red Force resumed from their overnight score of 151-3 with Bravo on 74 and Yannic Cariah at the other end on 32.
They extended their fourth-wicket stand of 69 to 101 when Colin Archibald trapped Cariah leg before wicket with the score at 186. Shortly after, Archibald dismissed Tion Webster for six as TT Red Force slipped to189-5.
Bravo and Jangoo set about repairing the damage but the score had reached 227, Bravo was bowled by Sheeno Berridge for exactly 100. He had faced 229 balls and hit 10 fours and two sixes.
Jangoo and Imran Khan began a lower-order rally adding 51 for the seventh wicket when Jeremiah Louis dismissed Jangoo for 52.
Khan assumed the role of senior batter and together with Terrance Hinds put on 81 for the eighth wicket as Trinidad progressed past 300 runs and began to push towards 400.
Hinds was eventually dismissed by Kofi James for a run-a-ball 51.
At stumps, Khan remains not out on 68. At the other end Khary Pierre is not on nine as the match heads into its third day.
Louis has so far taken 3-56 and Berridge 2-78. Archibald has 2-83.
Hosein took two of the last three Hurricanes wickets and ended with 6-62 from 25.4 overs for match figures of 10-113 to earn the Player of the Match award.
The Red Force needed a little under 40 minutes to complete victory and move to the top of the Championship table.
The Hurricanes, resuming from their overnight total of 162 for seven, lost Damion Jacobs with the final ball of first over of the day, when Hosein trapped him lbw for two.
Quinton Boatswain offered token resistance before he was run out for one and Sheeno Berridge became the last scalp for Hosein to bring the contest to a close.
West Indies pacer Alzarri Joseph, batting at eight, gave evidence of his improving batting prowess with the top score of 47 not out for the Hurricanes but it was never going to be enough to prevent the inevitable.
Scores: TT Red Force 552 for 9 declared. Leeward Islands Hurricanes 186 and 198.
Pollard heads a seasoned squad of players that include the likes of Evin Lewis, Lendl Simmons and the hard-hitting Nicholas Pooran. Darren Bravo, who will form part of the strong squad will also serve as vice-captain for the team that were semi-finalists last time out.
The T&T selectors have also picked the experienced Jason Mohammed, who is on West Indies duty in Bangladesh as well as former West Indies representatives Sunil Narine, Denesh Ramdin and Ravi Rampaul.
Imran Khan, Akeal Hosein, opener Kjorn Ottley, Khary Pierre, Anderson Phillip and Jayden Seales are also in line to represent the team from the twin-island republic that on paper should start as favourites to win the shortened version of the competition in 2021.
The full squad reads: Kieron Pollard (captain), Darren Bravo (vice-captain), Evin Lewis, Lendl Simmons, Jason Mohammed, Nicholas Pooran, Sunil Narine, Denesh Ramdin, Imran Khan, Akeal Hosein, Ravi Rampaul, Jayden Seales, Kjorn Ottley, Anderson Phillip, Khary Pierre.
After bowling out the Windward Islands Volcanoes for 227, Red Force appeared to be full control at 159-2 in the 30th over after Simmons made an entertaining 102 off 114 balls.
He hit seven fours and five sixes to take the CG Insurance Man-of-the-Match award as Red Force scored 228-6 off 45.3 overs – to win by four wickets with 27 balls to spare.
Simmons reached the milestone of 4,000 List A runs during his innings but fell via the run-out route thanks to some excellent work from substitute Roland Cato. His dismissal triggered a slide which saw four Red Force wickets fall for 22 runs off 40 balls, to leave Red Force on 181-5 the 37th over.
Simmons shared an 81-run opening stand with Evin Lewis (37) and a 78-run second-wicket stand with Nicholas Pooran (17). Captain Kieron Pollard then hit 31 off 35 balls with three huge sixes but fell close to the end when he was well caught by Cato off left-arm spinner Larry Edward (2-48).
“In the first game I didn’t get a score, so coming into this game I wanted to do something special for the team. It feels good to get a hundred, but I would have liked to see it home,” Simmons said.
“We are playing a good brand of cricket and we now have two wins in our two matches so we want to continue the winning ways."
All-rounder Kerron Cottoy had earlier top-scored with 72 from 75 balls while captain Sunil Ambris stroked 66 from 77 balls to help Volcanoes rally.
Off-spinner Jason Mohammed (3-50) and fast bowler Anderson Phillip (3-63) made inroads in the Volcanoes innings while left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein opened the bowling and ended with 2-25.
At stumps, the Windwards batting a second time are 62-0, just 12 runs behind after Trinidad and Tobago scored 315 in their first innings in reply to the Volcanoes 243.
Tevyn Walcott top-scored with 87.
Trinidad and Tobago owed their first innings lead to late order 50s from Amir Jangoo, who top scored with 86, Tion Webster’s 79 and Terrance Hinds’ 52.
The trio managed to rescue their side from 82-5 in the 41st over. However, Webster and Jangoo put on 138 for the sixth wicket, which was followed by a 78 run stand between Hinds and Jangoo, which established a lead.
Ryan John was the chief wicket-taker with the impressive figures of 5-18.
At stumps, Kimani Melius is unbeaten on 39 and Jerlani Robinson on 20.
Over at North Sound, Guyana Harpy Eagles were 205-5 at stumps on the opening day of their match against the Barbados Pride thanks to an unbeaten 70 from Matthew Nandu.
Akeem Jordan has so far taken 2-34 while Chiam Holder has snared 2-36.
Meanwhile, the Leeward Islands Hurricanes were in a spot of bother against Jamaica at Coolidge Cricket Ground. At stumps they were 163-6.
Jahmar Hamilton is the top scorer so far but the dangerous Rahkeem Cornwall is not out on 28 and Jeremiah Lewis, 17.
Abhijai Mansingh has taken 2-27 for the Scorpions.
The decade-long wait finally ended following a nail-biting three-wicket victory over the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.
Set 218 for victory, half centuries from Chadwick Walton and Andrew McCarthy laid the foundation for victory with a second-wicket partnership of 126 after inform batsman and opener Brandon King was dismissed by Shannon Gabriel for just 12.
Powell scored 25 before he lost his wicket late but those runs were enough for him to be the leading run scorer of the tournament with 346 runs at an average of 69.20. It was the achievement of a goal that he set himself prior to the start of the competition in October.
“Just spending time at the crease. Over the past year or so I have spent a lot of time, especially batting spin so it is good to see it bearing fruit now,” said Powell, who scored a match-winning unbeaten 105 in the semi-final against Guyana Harpy Eagles on Thursday.
“I came in wanting to top the competition, wanting to spend a lot of time at the crease and I think I did that.”
The 2022 CG Insurance Super50 title is the second trophy Jamaica has won under Powell’s leadership. Earlier this year, he led the Jamaica Tallawahs to their third CPL title. The Jamaican T20 franchise won the inaugural title in 2012 and then again in 2016.
However, their fans had to endure watching the Barbados Royals and Trinbago Knight Riders celebrate triumphs over the next six years before they were finally able to celebrate once more. Powell said that he hopes that this is the start of a brighter future for both franchises.
“During the journey, they have become a little frustrated. They cussed us on social media but I guess that is part of the sport,” Powell said.
“It’s just good that we have finally delivered the CPL title and the CG Insurance Super 50 after a decade. It is a very good feeling. I hope they enjoyed it and hope that it is the start of something successful.”
