Hosts and defending champions Trinidad & Tobago Red Force comfortably defeated the Windward Islands Volcanoes by seven wickets at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy on Friday to move to two wins out of two this season.

The Red Force first restricted the Volcanoes to 182 all out off 45 overs after winning the toss and bowling first.

Joshua James, Yannic Cariah and Anderson Phillip all took two-wicket hauls for the Red Force while Jeremy Solozano and Sunil Ambris each made 47 for the Volcanoes.

The Red Force then needed only 38 overs to reach 186-3 and secure their second win in as many games this season.

Tion Webster led the way with the bat with 95* off 115 balls including 14 fours and one six while Amir Jangoo hit 31.

Captain Joshua Da Silva finished 21* alongside Webster.

Full Scores:

Windward Islands Volcanoes 182 off 45 overs (Sunil Ambris 47, Jeremy Solozano 47, Joshua James 2-15, Anderson Phillip 2-21, Yannic Cariah 2-35)

Trinidad & Tobago Red Force 186-3 off 38 overs (Tion Webster 95*, Amir Jangoo 31)

The Red Force will next play the Leeward Islands Hurricanes at the same venue on Sunday while the Volcanoes will next play the Jamaica Scorpions at the Queen’s Park Oval on Tuesday.

West Indies wicketkeeper/batsman Joshua Da Silva has been appointed as captain of the Trinidad & Tobago Red Force for the 2024 edition of the CG United Super50 Cup beginning on October 29.

The 26-year-old replaces previous captain Darren Bravo who has not been selected in a Red Force squad that includes six changes from the team that won the 2023 title.

Amir Jangoo, Jyd Goolie, Bryan Charles, Isaiah Rajah, Anderson Phillip, and Joshua James have all been included.

Nicholas Pooran, Akeal Hosein, Evin Lewis, and Jayden Seales will miss out on most of the tournament due to West Indies duty.

The Red Force open their campaign against the CCC in St. Augustine on October 29.

They also play the Windward Islands (November 1), Leeward Islands (November 3), West Indies Academy (November 7), Guyana (November 9), Jamaica (November 12) and Barbados (November 16) in preliminary round play.

The semifinals are set for November 20 and 21 with the final scheduled for November 23 at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba.

T&T Red Force Super50 Squad: Joshua Da Silva (captain), Khary Pierre (vice-captain), Amir Jangoo, Jason Mohammed, Jyd Goolie, Tion Webster, Bryan Charles, Kjorn Ottley, Isaiah Rajah, Terrance Hinds, Anderson Phillip, Yannic Cariah, Mark Deyal, Joshua James.

A superb bowling performance by the West Indies Academy has put them in control against the Leeward Islands Hurricanes at Warner Park in St Kitts on the opening day of the 2024 West Indies Championship.

At stumps, West Indies Academy were 60-2, just 77 runs behind the Hurricanes, who were bundled out for a mere 137 thanks to the brilliant bowling efforts of the Academy’s bowlers.

Jeremiah Louis’ late-innings knock of 45 was the only thing that stood between the Hurricanes and complete humiliation as they were blown away by the bowling of allrounder Joshua James, who took 3-11 and Ashmead Nedd, who two wickets came at a cost of only three runs. Johan Layne weighed in with 2-18.

Nyeem Young was the least efficient of the bowlers conceding 52 runs from his 10 overs during which he took two wickets.

Terance Ward score of 28 and Jahmar Hamilton contribution of 22 were the only other noteworthy efforts in an otherwise woeful batting display from the Hurricanes.

Mbeki Joseph will resume on 30 and Ackeem Auguste 15 when play begins on Thursday.

The West Indies Academy pulled off a stunning 12-run win over the Jamaica Scorpions in their CG Insurance Super50 encounter at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium in Antigua on Saturday.

The Scorpions restricted the Academy to 182 all out after winning the toss and deciding to bowl first.

Kevin Wickham (46), Kevlon Anderson (33) and Leonardo Julien (32) were the main scorers for the Academy as left-arm wrist spinner Dennis Bulli led the way for Jamaica with 4-32 from 8.5 overs. Jeavor Royal and Jamie Merchant both bowled full 10 over spells and provided good support with 3-39 and 2-33, respectively.

The Academy then pulled off an amazing comeback to successfully defend what seemed like a losing total, with the Scorpions cruising at one stage at 124-4 at the halfway stage.

Jamaica then, inexplicably, lost their last six wickets for just 44 runs to finish 170 all out after just 39.5 overs.

Captain Rovman Powell top-scored for the Scorpions with 42 while Brandon King and Andre McCarthy both made 28 against match-winning efforts from Joshua James (3-19 off seven overs) and Ashmead Nedd (3-33 from seven overs).

Cricket West Indies (CWI) and the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will continue to offer development opportunities to some of the best young West Indians during the ninth edition of the CPL, which takes place in St Kitts later this year.

Since 2019, and for the third consecutive season, 12 players have been drafted, retained or signed into the two mandatory Emerging Player positions in each of the six CPL franchises.

Each CPL franchise will have to field an Emerging Player a minimum of five times during the tournament, ensuring that these players get at least some competitive playing experience and the opportunity to train with some of the best players and coaches from across the Caribbean, and around the world.

The list of 12 retained and drafted players include recent West Indies Men’s Test and T20I debutants Joshua Da Silva and Kevin Sinclair who will feature for St Kitts & Nevis Patriots and Guyana Amazon Warriors respectively. At relatively young ages, these two players have notably risen through the CWI development ranks in the last 18 months since featuring for the victorious West Indies Emerging team in the 2019 CG Insurance Super50 Cup.

Four of the Emerging Players will be experiencing the CPL for the first time: Joshua James, Kirk McKenzie, Kadeem Alleyne and Leonardo Julien.  McKenzie and James were members of the West Indies Under-19 side that featured in the last ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, held in South Africa in 2020, who now have a chance to develop their white ball skills with the Jamaica Tallawahs.

CWI’s Director of Cricket, Jimmy Adams congratulated the selected players saying: “CWI is extremely happy for the 12 Emerging Players who will participate in this year’s CPL tournament. The Emerging Player programme is now a focal point of our elite player pathway and the CPL plays a critical role in exposing these young players to elite players and high level competition. We have no doubt that the experience gained by these young players will be a significant factor in establishing the next generation of international players within this format of the game.”

Reflecting on the third year of the CWI and CPL collaboration, CWI’s High-Performance Manager Graeme West said: “The Emerging Player Programme underlines the growth and strength of the CWI and CPL partnership. In a year where running high-performance activities for our talented young players has been challenging, CPL will provide the 12 emerging players a great learning and development opportunity.”

He continued: “With seven players retained from the 2020 CPL, this draft represents a reward for the performances and potential that the franchises saw from the Emerging Players in Trinidad last year. I’m delighted that three players from last year’s West Indies Under-19 squad have been drafted for the first time with McKenzie, James and Julian joining team-mates Nedd, Young and Seales who will look to build on their performances in 2020. The drafting of Kadeem Alleyne is really significant as it demonstrates to all young cricketers in the Caribbean that outstanding performances in local tournaments can be recognized and rewarded.”

The full list of drafted, retained and signed Emerging Players for their respective CPL teams is as follows:

Joshua Bishop​​ (Barbados) - Retained by Barbados Tridents

Nyeem Young (Barbados) - Retained by Barbados Tridents

Ashmead Nedd​​ (Guyana) - Retained by Guyana Warriors

Kevin Sinclair (Guyana) - Retained by Guyana Warriors

Joshua James* (Trinidad & Tobago) - Drafted by Jamaica Tallawahs

Kirk McKenzie​​* (Jamaica) - Drafted by Jamaica Tallawahs

Dominic​ Drakes (Barbados) - Retained by St Kitts & Nevis Patriots

Joshua Da Silva​​ (Trinidad & Tobago) - Retained by St Kitts & Nevis Patriots

Kadeem Alleyne* (Barbados) - Drafted by St Lucia Zouks

Jeavor Royal (Jamaica) - Drafted by St Lucia Zouks

Leonardo Julien* (Trinidad & Tobago) - Signed by Trinbago Knight Riders

Jayden Seales​​ (Trinidad & Tobago) - Retained by Trinbago Knight Riders