Trinidad and Tobago Red Force, courtesy of a tidy batting effort led by Tion Webster’s unbeaten century, consolidated their advantage over Windward Islands Volcanoes on day two of their fourth round West Indies Championship encounter at Queen’s Park Oval, on Thursday.

Webster, an all-rounder, smashed 13 fours and two sixes to end not out on 107 off 139 balls, as his almost four-hour knock revived the Red Force innings, which eventually ended at 294. Veteran Jason Mohammed, with a 90-ball 56 and opener Vikash Mohan, with a 96-ball 52, also contributed to the host posting a 103-run lead in reply to the Volcanoes’ first innings total of 191.

Off-spinner Kenneth Dember was the pick of the Volcanoes bowlers with five for 63 from 22 overs.

The Volcanoes in their second innings were 68-2, 35 runs behind with eight wickets intact. Jeremy Solozano, on 30, and Alick Athanaze, on 10, will resume batting on Friday’s penultimate day of the four-day contest.

Scores: Windward Islands Volcanoes 191 & 68-2 (25 overs); Trinidad and Tobago Red Force 294 all out (87 overs) lead by 35 runs

Resuming at 89-1 with Mohan, on 34, and Jyd Goolie, on one, the Red Force lost the latter in the third over of the day, as he added a solitary run to his overnight score.

Mohan added 18 to his overnight score before he went caught off Shamar Springer for a well-played 52 that included six boundaries. Springer, who had Kjorn Ottley (47) on day one, also accounted for captain and West Indies Test wicketkeeper/batsman Joshua Da Silva (four), to leave the Red Force in a spot of bother at 136-4.

However, Webster came to the crease and shared in a 70-run fifth-wicket stand with Jason Mohammed, who had nine boundaries in his 56, before he fell to Dember.

Though Webster fought on, he quickly ran out of partners, as Dember ran through the lower order batsmen, who all failed to get past 10, and the Red Force innings crumbled shortly after the tea interval.

Springer ended with three for 76 from 23 overs.

Meanwhile, Volcanoes in their second time at bat, again lost opener Johann Jeremiah (19) and West Indies Test batsman Kavem Hodge (zero) cheaply, to leave Solozano and Athanaze, who had a half-century in the first innings, on repair duties.

Left-arm spinner Khary Pierre and West Indies pacer Jayden Seales have so far taken the wickets.

Elsewhere, Combined Campuses & Colleges Marooners lead Leeward Islands Hurricanes by 90 runs with seven second innings wickets intact, at Frank Worrell Field in Trinidad and Tobago. 

Scores: Combined Campuses & Colleges Marooners 273 all out (Amari Goodridge 75, Sadique Henry 73, Romario Greaves 58, Yannick Ottley 24; Daniel Doram 4-37, Jeremiah Louis 3-54, Rahkeem Cornwall 3-86) & 76 for three (Sadique Henry 32 not out; Jeremiah Louis 2-18).

Leeward Islands Hurricanes 259 all out (Kieran Powell 114, Jeremiah Louis 31, Justin Greaves 29, Rahkeem Cornwall 22, Jahmar Hamilton 21; Romario Greaves 19.2-1-63-5, Zishan Motara 2-14, Jediah Blades 2-50).

At Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua, Barbados Pride trail Guyana Harpy Eagles by 377 with seven first innings wickets in hand.

Scores: Guyana Harpy Eagles 436 all out (Veerasammy Permaul 90, Kevlon Anderson 87, Kevin Sinclair 72, Tevin Imlach 55, Tagenarine Chanderpaul 40, Gudakesh Motie 37, Matthew Nandu 28; Kemar Roach 2-52, Jason Holder 2-52, Jomel Warrican 2-98)

Barbados Pride 59 for three (Jonathan Drakes 20 not out; Isai Thorne 2-19).

The Windward Islands Volcanoes needed only three days to complete a nine-wicket victory over the Jamaica Scorpions in their 2024 West Indies Championship opening round fixture at Sabina Park in Kingston.

The Scorpions started Friday’s day three 76-4 off 18 overs, trailing by 106 runs with Nkrumah Bonner and Gordon Bryan at the crease on 36 and one, respectively.

Eleven overs into the day’s play, Bonner was trapped in front by Shamar Springer for 45 to leave the Scorpions 109-5 needing a further 73 runs to make the Windwards have to bat again.

New batsman Abhijai Mansingh joined Bryan at the crease and the pair looked to be safely guiding the Scorpions into the lunch break without any further damage.

However, this proved not to be the case as Mansingh was caught brilliantly at short mid-wicket by Sunil Ambris off the bowling of Shadrack Descarte for 11 to leave the hosts 131-6 off 47 overs at lunch.

The first over after lunch saw Bryan’s resistance finally ended by Kenneth Dember for 31 with the score on 133.

Peat Salmon and Romaine Morris then did their best to get the scoring rate up but their partnership ended when Salmon went back to a full delivery off Dember and was bowled for 15.

Despite the fall off wickets around him, Morris maintained his positive play, eventually bringing up a maiden first-class fifty.

He was eventually the last man dismissed for 68 off 76 balls including seven fours and two sixes as the Scorpions were dismissed for 234 in 73.4 overs, leaving the Volcanoes needing just 53 for victory.

Darius Martin finished with 4-85 from 16 overs while Shamar Springer and Kenneth Dember took 2-30 from 16.4 overs and 2-53 from 22 overs, respectively.

The Volcanoes then needed only 16 overs to reach 55-1 and secure the win. Jeremy Solozano ended 29* while Johann Jeremiah made 22*.

Full Scores: Jamaica Scorpions 159 all out off 41 overs (Romaine Morris 35, Peat Salmon 26, Ryan John 5-43, Shamar Springer 3-53) & 234 all out off 73.4 overs (Romaine Morris 68, Nkrumah Bonner 45, Gordon Bryan 31, Darius Martin 4-85, Shamar Springer 2-30, Kenneth Dember 2-53)

Windward Islands Volcanoes 341 all out 105.2 overs (Johann Jeremiah 80, Shamar Springer 71, Ryan John 57, Sunil Ambris 45, Gordon Bryan 4-64, Peat Salmon 3-78, Marquino Mindley 2-60) & 55-1 off 16 overs (Jeremy Solozano 29*, Johann Jeremiah 22*)