ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – All three West Indies Championship matches finished in an interesting state on Friday.

WINDIES international Jason Mohammed rescued his season with an unbeaten half-century, as Trinidad & Tobago Red Force batted all day to put leaders Guyana Jaguars under pressure at the Queen’s Park Oval on the second day of sixth round matches in the Championship.

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In the day/night contest – Jerome Taylor and compatriot Damion Jacobs, playing on opposite sides, shared the spotlight, as Jamaica Scorpions were within sight of victory against Leeward Islands Hurricanes, after they were led on first innings at Warner Park.

And, Barbados Pride captain Jonathan Carter struck his fourth half-century of the season, but he lost late wickets to allow Windward Islands Volcanoes to strengthen their advantage in their contest at Kensington Oval.

Red Force (108) & 264-5 vs Jaguars (150) in Port of Spain, Trinidad

The 32-year-old Mohammed put his dismal form behind him to top score with an unbeaten 79, as Red Force built a lead of 222.

The WINDIES international struck eight fours from 189 deliveries and just shy of four hours and put on 51 for the fifth wicket with Yannic Cariah and has so far added 83 for the sixth with Imran Khan, not out on 40.

Their knocks followed the enterprise of openers Joshua Da Silva, as they posted a handsome 84 for the first wicket, after the hosts resumed the day on 13 without loss.

Da Silva made 49 Solozano scored 45, but WINDIES left-arm seamer Raymon Reifer removed them both in a slide that saw Red Force lose four wickets for 46 before Mohammed stepped up to stabilise the innings.

Hurricanes (204 & 142) vs Scorpions (190) & 92-4 in Basseterre, St. Kitts

Chasing 157 to win, Scorpions lost their fours second innings wickets to Jamaican leg-spinner Jacobs, who ended the day with 4-29 from nine overs to follow up his destructive spell earlier in the day that handed the Hurricanes a narrow first innings lead.

Familiarity bred success, as Jacobs exposed the Scorpions’ batting with a spell of 5-42 from 14 overs.

After the Scorpions resumed from their overnight total of 92 for four, their batting fell away badly with only Taylor offering some resistance at the back end of the innings with a typically enterprising 25.

Taylor followed up his late innings pyrotechnics with the bat, when he grabbed 4-31 from 14.2 overs and Rovman Powell snared 3-43 from 10 overs, as the Hurricanes were brought back down to earth, when they suffered a second innings batting collapse.

Rahkeem Corwall was not out on 44, Jahmar Hamilton made 41 and Terance Warde added 29 as the mainstays of the Hurricanes batting, after they crashed from 34 for four.

Volcanoes (470-8 dec) vs Pride 154-4 in Bridgetown, Barbados

The left-handed Carter ended the day unbeaten on 64, an innings which was at the heart of the Pride’s innings.

Aaron Jones made 42, but was one of two wickets to fall in the third over before the close in a superb burst from fast bowler Ray Jordan.

Paceman Josh Thomas had earlier removed both openers, as Pride stumbled to 44 for two in reply to the Volcanoes’ massive first innings total before Carter and Jones repaired the damage in a 108-run, third-wicket stand.

Carter has so far struck six fours and a six from 100 balls in just under 2 ¼ hours at the crease and Jones counted five fours in a 67-ball knock.

Not for the first time in the match, veteran Devon Smith made the headlines when he perished just short of a deserved double hundred for 199, as he became the first regional batsman to cross the 10,000-run career mark in the Championship.

Resuming the day on 146, the left-hander reached 195 at lunch with Volcanoes on 416 for five, after continuing from their overnight 325 for five.

But he fell to the fifth ball after the resumption, caught at extra cover off WINDIES international Miguel Cummins. All told, he faced 351 deliveries in eight hours and 25 minutes, striking 23 fours and a six.

He extended his sixth-wicket stand with his nephew Denis to 98, with the younger Smith scoring 66 off 128 balls with 10 fours after starting the day on one.

(CMC/CWI)