A brilliant four-wicket spell by Terrance Hinds (4/15), coupled with a masterful unbeaten half-century by captain Darren Bravo (53), propelled the T&T Red Force into the final of the CG Insurance Cricket West Indies Super50 Cup on by crushing the Guyana Harpy Eagles by six wickets at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, San Fernando on Wednesday.
The Red Force will now face the winner of Thursday’s second semifinal clash between the Leeward Islands Volcanoes and the Barbados Pride at the same venue on Saturday.
The match was billed as a showdown between the giants of regional cricket, however, the Eagles struggled to catch their flight, as they were easily dismissed for just 105 in 34.3 overs. The Red Force then raced to 107 for 4 in 27.4 overs, with Bravo leading the way with 53, coming in 70 balls, inclusive of eight boundaries.
Bravo’s knock, coming on the heels of his unbeaten 139 against the Barbados Pride on Sunday at the same venue, which was the tournament’s highest individual score, ideally struck the winning runs of Kevin Sinclair, a boundary with his score of 49.
“I’m extremely happy, to be quite honest. I thought we played an exceptional game of cricket today,” Bravo said.
“I’m just trying to take responsibility as captain and trying to lead from the front each and every single time when I get the opportunity.”
Earlier, though, the pair of Kjorn Ottley and Tion Webster took the T&T response to 25 in need of 106 for victory before Veerasammy Permaul trapped Webster leg-before for 10.
The introduction of Bravo at one-down reaped dividends afterward, with the stylish left-hander sometimes particularly severe on Permaul, Gudakesh Motie, and Sinclair. He twice hit Motie for double boundaries and took turns with the other bowlers.
Ottley, the former QRC student, was anything but overshadowed in T&T response, lashing 35 in 59 balls, which included 5 fours. However, his exit through the LBW route from Motie had given the Guyanese (Motie) the upper hand, as he later took the wickets of Nicholas Pooran for three and Jason Mohammed, trapped LBW for no score, in his three-wicket haul (3/20).
Before the start of the match, mystery spinner Sunil Narine was recognized for his contribution to the sport, having called it quits on his international career on Sunday, but Bravo’s decision to send the Eagles into bat first proved to be the right one.
Hinds, given the responsibility by his captain Bravo to bowl within the opening 10-over spell in which the power-play is in effect, for the first time in the tournament. Hinds’ right-arm medium pace proved a major challenge for the usually dangerous opening pair of Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Kevin Sinclair.
Hinds lured Sinclair into an attacking stroke from a perfect delivery that he edged into the safe hands of wicketkeeper Nicholas Pooran for four. Then with the score on 21 for one, Hinds struck again, this time forcing an outside edge from Tevin Imlach for the same score (4).
But with the usually dogged Chanderpaul at the crease, the Guyanese held out hope, despite wickets tumbling around him.
Hinds got his third wicket by producing an absolutely audacious caught-and-bowl combination to get rid of Shimron Hetmeyer, the stylish Guyanese batsman, on whose shoulders so much depended.
Hinds then completed his spell of four wickets for 15 runs when Kemol Savory edged him behind and straight into Pooran’s gloves without troubling the scoreboard, and Guyanese batting was left reeling at 25 for 4.
Hinds’ early destruction had set the tone for the Red Force’s passage to the title match, as Yannic Cariah, who has been having an outstanding season with both bat and ball was introduced to mop up the Eagle’s tail.
Akeal Hosein, who left a destructive path in the Red Force’s last group match against the Barbados Pride at the weekend, returned to remove Kevlon Anderson for seven.
Then Chanderpaul’s resistance was broken soon after. The dogged left-hander struck three fours in 43 balls for his 22 runs, before he perished in a mix-up with Sherfane Rutherford and was run out, as he tested the arm of Hosein.
Rutherford battled tooth and nail in a desperate attempt to repair the Eagles innings. Having survived a dropped catch by Hosein off Narine’s bowling, earlier Rutherford was then caught in mid-wicket by Kjorn Ottley for the team’s top score of 30 as he tried for a boundary off Cariah’s bowling to add to his score. Rutherford, who struck three fours and a six, to anchored the best stand of the innings – 25 for the ninth wicket with Veerasammy Permaul, who scored eight not out.
The wicket was the first for Cariah before he got his second that of Nial Smith.
“We didn’t do as well as we wanted to with the bat,” Imlach said.
“We kept giving our wickets away and once you keep doing that, you’re always going to put the team under pressure.
“We didn’t bat well as a group and it’s something we need to assess for the next tournament.”
Hinds was later named the Man of the Match spearheading the Red Force victory path.
Brief Scores
HARPY EAGLES 105 all out off 34.3 overs (Sherfane Rutherford 30, Tagenarine Chanderpaul 22; Terrance Hinds 4-15, Yannic Cariah 2-14)
RED FORCE 107 for four off 27.4 overs (Darren Bravo 53 not out, Kjorn Ottley 35; Gudakesh Motie 3-20)
SCOREBOARD
Result: Red Force won by six wickets.
Series: Red Force advance to Super50 Cup final.
Man-of-the-Match: Terrance Hinds.
Toss: Red Force
Umpires: Leslie Reifer;
Patrick Gustard;
TV – Deighton Butler.
(CMC)