Pride v Red Force bring clash of the titans to Round 4
Barbados Pride suffered a Round 3 defeat to the Guyana Harpy Eagles, but Pride Head Coach Vasbert Drakes was still pleased with the few individual performances. Drakes had praises for Shai Hope who struck a century in the Pride’s first innings run chase, along with skipper Kraigg Brathwaite’s second innings century.
Drakes is excited to be playing the back end of the tournament with Trinidad and Tobago Red Force their opponents in Round 4. Drakes said,
“Looking forward to the game versus Trinidad, that has always been a competitive matchup. We are looking for consistency and we know we have the capabilities. It’s just a matter of the guys having the confidence to execute and carrying through for a long period of time.”
CARIAH LEADING RED FORCE WITH EXPERIENCE
Yannic Cariah led the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force batting with a second innings century in their loss against the Leeward Islands Hurricanes in Round 3 of the West Indies Championship. Cariah can be compared with a fine wine, as they both get better with time.
Cariah identified patience as the key factor for their Round 4 clash with the Barbados Pride at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy. Cariah said,
“My innings, I tried to bat as deep as possible despite the loss. I’ve put in a lot of work in my endurance and physicals so I can bat long. As a team we analyzed where we went wrong in the previous game. One bad game doesn’t deter us from our plans, we have to continue to what we do for long periods and stick to our plans.”
KING EXITS WITH A BANG
Brandon King who is off with the West Indies Men’s whiteball team to The Netherlands left an imprint on the Jamaica Scorpions team before his departure. A well-crafted 119 against the Windward Islands Volcanoes in Round 3 of the West Indies Championship earned the Scorpions their first win of the tournament.
King who has often spoken of his love of red-ball cricket said,
“I’m happy with my knock, more importantly it came with a win for the team. And being only available for one game this season, I wanted to make an impact and I’m happy I was able to contribute to the win.”
Leewards aiming to maintain form, Windwards seeking to move up the table
Leeward Islands Hurricanes (46.4 points) currently second to defending champions Barbados Pride (47.2 points) are seeking to maintain their excellent form, when the face bottom placed Windwards Volcanoes (15.6) in round four of the West Indies Championship four-day first-class tournament at the Queen’s Park Oval.
The Leeward led by West Indies off-spinner Rakheem Cornwall in absence of regular captain Jahmar Hamilton, stunned hosts Trinidad & Tobago Red as they toppled them by a commanding 187 runs and 21.8 points.
That performance was led by opener Kieran Powell who registered scores of 139 and 83. Medium pacer pacer Jeremiah Louis also had an excellent game clinching match figures of (24-7-63-7) with a ball and unbeaten innings of 42, spoke to CWI Media ahead of the round four encounter versus the Windwards and addressed why he thinks the Leeward have had such a good four-day championship so far.
“I think it is just hard work and determination because for the past, we have realized that we need to put in work”, said Louis.
“Getting the opportunity to train around the senior West Indies team set up recently and just watching England train, myself Colin Archibald, Kacey Carthy and Devin Thomas coming back in Leeward camp - we came together and realized even though we have been putting in work, we need to put in more, and that is what we have been doing. “So being considered as underdogs. We're going to show everybody what the other dogs can do”, Louis concluded.
The Windwards lost to Jamaica Scorpions by an innings and 14 runs in Round three. Veteran 40-year-old opener Devon Smith who confirmed that this four-day season will be his final of his 23-year domestic career said: “this is my last season. I mean, it's been 23 years I've been playing. I think that I had enough, you know, just to try and pass on my knowledge to some of the youngsters.
“We (Windwards) always try and play hard against the Leewards. But we know they will be coming with a fight having just won a game against Trinidad, so we just must go and play smart cricket”, said Smith.