CWI Regional First-Class Championships Red Force win by 93 runs with over a day to spare Jaguars, despite successive losses, still maintain lead

Feb 03, 2019 Sports

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By Sean Devers in Trinidad
In association with Lifetime Real Estate,
Cascadia Hotel and Star Party Rental

Put it down to coincidence or call him a lucky charm, but since Esuan Crandon was replaced by Dr Shivnarine Chanderpaul, due to his elevation to the Windies Coaching staff, Jaguars’ 15-match winning streak was broken with consecutive defeats, while the Windies have won both Tests against England.

Resuming yesterday on 264-5 at the Queen’s Park Oval, Red Force scored only 53 runs leaving the Jaguars to get 276 to win but seven wickets in the final session condemned the four times defending Championsto 182 and a 93-run defeat; their first against the Red Force in this tournament and fifth in the 46-match history of Regional First-Class Franchise cricket.
It was also the first time Guyana has lost consecutive games in over a decade.
Four wicket hauls from pacer pair Kemo Paul and Raymond Reifer had conspired to dismiss T&T’s Red Force for 317 midway in the first session of the sixth round of the CWI Regional First-Class Champions.
Jason Mohammed top scored with 83 from 204 balls with nine four and added 89 for the sixth wicket with Imran Khan who made 46 from 103 balls with four boundaries.
Khan was one of three batsmen to fall in the 40s, while Pacer Oden Smith hit a cameo 23-ball 27 decorated with four fours and a six.
Paul had 4-84 for match figures of 7-110, while Reifer finished with 4-64 for a match haul of 6-84.
The day began promisingly for the Trinis, with 32-year-old Mohammed 21 away from an eighth First-Class century and Imran Khan, once an opening batsman, on

40 at the crease in glorious sunshine.
The handful of fans that turned up at the Oval at a time when Carnival activities are in full swing across the 1,841 square mile Island of Trinidad, must have been inspired by the fact that the Jaguars bowlers had toiled all day on Friday on a track on which 20 wickets tumbled on the first day but only five fell on day two as Red Force fought back.
However, it took the Jaguars a little over an hour to dislodge the remaining five wickets yesterday and limited their victory target to under 300, when it seemed at the close of day two with the Red Force on 264-5 and their lead 222, the hosts were in a good position to give the Jaguars a target in excess of 300 in a season in which they have lost three of their previous four games.
But the pendulum had swung back in Red Force’s favour as wickets tumbled in the last session which saw the Jaguars collapsing despite a pugnacious 58-ball 50 with seven fours and a six from Romario Shepherd; his third fifty at this level.

Only Chanderpaul Hemraj (30) of the other batsmen reached 30 as Imran Khan had 3-45, while Bryan Charles, Anderson Phillips and Oden Smith had two each.
By Lunch the Jaguars had reached 29 without loss in 46 minutes with Hemraj who spanked Ravi Rampaul for a couple of boundaries, not out on 20 and Tagenarine Chanderpaul on nine.
After the Interval, Red Force made the breakthrough when Hemraj edged to the Keeper off Smith at 44-1.
Chanderpaul and Leon Johnson were kept in shackles and struggled to get the ball way as Rampaul bowled an impeccable off-stump line as the 50 came up in 20 overs.
With the score on 61, Chanderpaul, who again failed to find the gaps and faced 86 dot balls in his 94-ball 19, was relieved of his misery when he was LBW to the impressive Rampaul.
Vishaul Singh (0) turned Byran Charles off his pads and was stupendously taken at silly mid-on; left handed by Jeremy Solozano a run later to leave the Jaguars on 62-3.
Johnson, in ultra-defensive mode, was joined by Reifer, the fifth consecutive left-hander in the batting order, and by Tea the Jaguars were 79-3, still needing 197 to win their fifth game for the season with the Captain on 21 from 84 balls and Reifer on five from 26 balls.

After the break the Jaguars lost Johnson without addition to the Tea time score when he fell to Charles off the second ball of the last session.
Reifer (5) edged Phillip to the Keeper at 81-5 and Anthony Bramble (3) missed a sweep and was LBW to Khan at 89-6 before Paul and Romario Shepherd joined forces and tried to revive the position.
But Paul (19) just after hitting Khan onto the Media Stand and with the partnership on 32, tried to repeat the shot and skied Khan to mid-on as the Jaguars suck to 121-7.
It was soon 136-8 when Smith had Pestano (2) LBW but Berbician Shepherd kept attacking but soon lost Veerasammy Permaul (9) when he edged Phillip to the Keeper at 160-9.

Gudakesh Motie (15) hit three consecutive boundaries and added 22 with Shepherd who was last out when he missed a sweep off of Khan and was LBW.
Earlier, Mohammed got going with a boundary off the 20-year-old Paul who soon trapped Mohammed LBW at 270-6 and while Khan cut Reifer for four, the Bajan left-arm pacer had the last laugh when Khan edged to Johnson at slip when four short of his 12th fifty at 285-7.
Charles (5) was beaten for pace to a Paul short ball and lobbed a catch to cover at 303-8 before Smith threw caution to the wind in a cameo 27.
He first hit Paul like a bullet to the ropes at cover before launching into Reifer and smashing him down the ground for four and lofted him for a one-bounce boundary over mid-wicket before depositing him over head for six next ball.
But he was bowled by Paul after hitting four fours and a six at 315-9 before Reifer had Anderson Phillip (2) LBW to polish off the innings.

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