THE Trinidad and Tobago Red Force made a winning start to the 2015/16 West Indies Cricket Board Professional Cricket League Regional Four-Day tournament.They defeated the Leeward Islands Hurricanes by an innings and 23 runs at Warner Park, St. Kitts, yesterday.
Left-arm spinner, Kavesh Kantasingh was named Man-of-the-Match after finishing with match figures of six for 77 and taking six integral catches. The Red Force collected 17 points for the win while the Hurricanes received two points.
The hosts resuming the third day’s play on 55 for four, never recovered from their disasterous start. Kantasingh ripped through the Hurricane’s middle order with a mesmerizing spell of spin bowling.
He accounted for Orlando Peters (7), Steve Liburd (2), Jaison Peters (0) and Gavin Tonge (7) to finish with figures of four wickets for 29 runs in the first innings. Kantasingh combined well with leg-spinner Imran Khan who took four for 46 as the Leeward Islands were dismissed for 118, giving the visitors a first innings lead of 207.
Asked to follow on, the hosts were dismissed for 184 runs in their second innings, with Kantasingh again the central figure in their demise.
He took two wickets for 48 runs and four catches as the Leeward Islands were unable to handle the Red Force bowling attack. The experienced Narsingh Deonarine took three for 32, Shannon Gabriel claimed two for 24 and Imran Khan two for 48, to ensure the Red Force completed an outright victory in three days. Gavin Tonge top scored with 41 runs as several of the Hurricanes batsmen got starts but were unable to convert into bigger scores.
The Red Force will now travel to Barbados for the secound round of the competition. It will mark the final matches for captain Rayad Emrit and Evin Lewis who will leave for the Bangladesh Premier League.
Talented all-rounder Yannick Ottley is expected to take over the captaincy