Red Force Win West Indies Championship After 20-Year Wait
ST JOHN’S, Antigua - Trinidad and Tobago Red Force are West Indies Champions for the first time in two decades after a clinical fast bowling display routed the Guyana Harpy Eagles inside 35 overs on the final day to complete a 141-run victory at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
Chasing 281 for victory on the final day, Jayden Seales had opener Matthew Nandu caught behind for a duck inside the first over of the day and from that point, the result seemed inevitable.
By the start of the day’s second session, the match was effectively over. Guyana, in pursuit of a fourth consecutive title, had been bowled out for 139.
Terrance Hinds, who finished with 3-20, struck the final blow, uprooting Nial Smith's off stump, to spark celebratory scenes among his teammates.
Seales, who already made headlines with a maiden first-class half-century on day one and a four-wicket haul on day two, finished the second innings with 3-39 for match figures of 7-95.
Joshua James (2-12) was miserly and menacing, while Anderson Phillip (2-63) provided relentless reinforcement from the other end.
Guyana's top order offered little resistance. Phillip had Tagenarine Chanderpaul lbw inside the first four overs and when skipper Tevin Imlach, who made a purposeful 16, became Seales' second victim, the defending champions were reeling at 32-3.
Kemol Savory fell soon after off the bowling of Phillip and following James' dismissals of Jonathan Van Lange and Keemo Paul, any lingering hope was extinguished. Kevlon Anderson showed some fortitude in the fight and top-scored with a combative 41 off 68 balls inclusive of six fours.
He put on a 29-run stand with Gudakesh Motie which briefly steadied the ship, but once Seales had Anderson beaten lbw, it was Hinds who removed the final three batsmen with surgical precision for 11 runs.
He had Motie bowled for 18, Shamar Joseph caught behind for five and then bowled Smith for a duck with the fifth delivery he faced.
The story of the match could not be complete without revisiting day three, when veteran opener Evin Lewis stroked 122 to notch his first first-class century in a decade and keep Red Force’s advantage intact.
His 101-run partnership for the third wicket with Jason Mohammed and 54-run sixth wicket partnership with Hinds for the sixth wicket, appeared to give the Red Force a solid grip on proceedings, but Veerasammy Permaul snared three wickets late on to briefly revive the Harpy Eagles' hopes.
After grabbing the final Red Force wickets early on Day 4, the target of 281 was set and achievable, but against this Red Force’s pace attack, it ultimately proved to be a river to wide to cross for the Guyanese.
Red Force Head Coach Rayad Emrit was barely able to contain his emotion at the final whistle.
“Firstly, thanks to the Almighty. Without Him, nothing is possible,”
he began.
“I can't really express how happy I am. I'm overjoyed. I'm overwhelmed. The journey has been a long one. I took over last year and we wanted the attitude and culture of the team to change.”
“When you start winning, everything falls into place and I was fortunate that we had a good start. I want to really thank the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board for allowing us to do what we have done. This bunch of guys is probably the best Trinidad and Tobago team I've been around in red-ball cricket.”
Harpy Eagles Head Coach Ryan Hercules was gracious in defeat and paid tribute to T&T’s display while expressing his own expectations of a better performance from his side, the defending champions.
“I must say well done to them. They haven’t had a title in about 20 years now, and I think they outplayed us. They played good cricket throughout the game,”
Hercules admitted.
“I think if you look from our side of things, we had periods where we could have gone ahead. Our plan was to get first-innings points. It was about asking the batters to get a job done, which didn't happen in the first or second innings.”
“If you look at the second innings approach, losing two quick wickets so early put us on the back foot, it was tough to ask the guys at the bottom to go out there and try to get 200-plus runs.”
For Red Force, theirs was a redemptive victory. After losing the Super 50 final to Barbados last November on home soil, they reached yet another regional final but this time, had the wherewithal to outdo their rivals over four days.
Jason Mohammed, 39, ended his glittering 20-year association with Red Force cricket as he began, with a regional first-class title. His coach, Rayad Emrit, scored a century and was Player-of-the-Match the last time they won the regional first-class crown in 2006.
For Guyana, it ends a remarkable three-year dynasty. One of Caribbean cricket's fiercest rivalries may have a new victor, but the Harpy Eagles will have plenty to say about it next year.
West Indies Championship Honour Roll & Prize Money:
Winners - T&T Red Force US $200,000
Runner-Up - Guyana Harpy Eagles US $100,000.00
Third-Place - Barbados Pride US $50,000.00
Sir Vivian Richards Award - Top Batter (Most Runs) $2,500
Joshua Da Silva - TTRF
Courtney Walsh Award - Top Bowler (Most Wickets) $2,500
Gudakesh Motie - GHE
Sir Clive Lloyd Award - Top Fielder - $2,500
Kevlon Anderson - GHE
Malcolm Marshall Memorial Award -Top All Rounder - $2,500
Terrance Hinds - TTRF
Deryck Murray Award - Top Wicketkeeper - $2,500
Tevin Imlach - GHE
Andy Roberts Award - Most Promising Fast Bowler - $2,500
Nial Smith - GHE