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TRINIDAD and Tobago Red Force fell to the Guyana Harpy Eagles by three runs in a CG Insurance Super50 Cup nail-biter at Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba, on Wednesday night.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat first, the visitors put on 269/9 led by Romario Shepherd’s unbeaten knock of 74, in their 50 overs.
In response, TT put on another slow chase and suffered in the end, as they were restricted to 266/6 against a persistent Guyana outfit.
Darren Bravo top-scored for TT with a painstaking knock of 71 runs from 88 balls while opening batsman Kjorn Ottley chipped in with 49.
[caption id="attachment_983832" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Guyana Harpy Eagles’ Anthony Bramble looks on after playing a shot. Photo by Lincoln Holder[/caption]
Middle-order batsman Sunil Narine attempted his big-hitting heroics in the final over but was unable to lead TT over the line despite putting on a stellar performance with the ball.
Narine closed on 30 not out while fellow spinner Yannic Cariah scored the same. Akeal Hosein joined Narine in the middle for the final few balls and finished on two not out.
Ottley and fellow opener Joshua Da Silva started strongly as they put on 79 runs in 15 overs before the former was caught and bowled by Gudakesh Motie. Three balls later, Da Silva was bowled by pacer Romario Shepherd.
Experienced players Jason Mohammed and Darren Bravo breathed new life into the TT innings by putting on a 47-run partnership. However, the pair stifled their chase by using over 12 overs to do so.
[caption id="attachment_983833" align="alignnone" width="1024"] TT Red Force pacer Shannon Gabriel (foreground) celebrates a wicket against the Guyana Harpy Eagles, on Wednesday, during a Super50 Cup match, at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba. Photo by Lincoln Holder[/caption]
Guyanese spinner Veerasammy Permaul broke the batting stance as he forced Mohammed to play into the hands of a diving Shimron Hetmyer. Mohammed scored 24 from 44 balls.
In came skipper Nicholas Pooran who also had a slow start. After 30 balls, Pooran notched 23 runs, comprising three fours, and was also out caught by ‘Hetty’ off a pacy Kevin Sinclair delivery. At this stage, TT were 170/4 after 38 overs.
His partnership with Bravo totalled 44 runs from 10 overs.
Needing 100 runs from the remaining 12 overs, Cariah joined Bravo in the middle and the pair helped the hosts to 226/5. Cariah and Bravo rotated the strike nicely and added 56 to their tally before the former was run out.
Narine meant business and slogged the Guyanese bowlers in his unbeaten 30 from 17 balls. Bravo also upped the ante and led TT to 250. He, however, placed the ball into the hands of Sinclair to make way for Hosein, with two overs to go.
Needing 20 for their second victory on the trot, Narine kept swinging but could not generate the required runs as TT were forced to close on 266/6 losing out by three runs.
Topping the bowling for Guyana was Shepherd (2/44) while Motie (1/33), Permaul (1/51) and Clinton Prestano (1/53) also contributed.
The win for Guyana is the first in two matches while TT, after defeating Combined Campuses and Colleges on Monday, lost their second match of the tournament.
Earlier, Guyana started on the front foot courtesy of openers Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Anthony Bramble up against TT’s pace duo of Jayden Seales and Shannon Gabriel.
Chanderpaul looked good and punished Gabriel for three consecutive fours in the fourth over, to carry them to 30 without loss.
[caption id="attachment_983835" align="alignnone" width="881"] TT Red Force pacer Shannon Gabriel bowls during the CG United Super50 Cup match against Guyana Harpy Eagles, on Wednesday, at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy. Photo by Lincoln Holder[/caption]
Spinner Hosein also replaced Gabriel in the sixth, bowled a maiden, was plastered for 18 runs by Bramble off his second and then swiftly removed from the attack by Pooran.
With Guyana at 63/0 after eight overs, Pooran summoned a short team meeting while the Guyanese batsmen took a drinks break.
At the resumption, Bramble returned to launch Phillip over mid-wicket for another boundary.
Narine’s introduction in the tenth over broke the partnership as he scattered Chanderpaul’s stumps off his second delivery. The Guyanese however, hit five fours in his knock of 25 from 31 balls.
Hetmyer joined Bramble in the middle but after scoring a stern 42 from 38 deliveries, the latter played on to his stumps off a pacy Gabriel delivery to send Guyana to 76/2.
New batsman and Harpy Eagles skipper Leon Johnson did not last as Gabriel had him caught by Jason Mohammed at first slip for a golden duck (76/3). Gabriel’s hat-trick ball was delayed for about 15 minutes as a moderate drizzle hampered proceedings.
When the match resumed, he did not get the hat trick but Narine returned to attack and was duly rewarded with the scalp of Hetmyer (11). The Guyanese edged to Pooran at first slip.
At 86/4 after 16 overs, Sherfane Rutherford and Tevin Imlach steadied the innings by building an 83-run partnership.
The pair chipped away at the overs, and scored slowly but kept rotating the strike to ease the pressure on each other.
When Imlach (32) was bowled by Gabriel, Narine had Rutherford caught behind by Joshua Da Silva in the next over while Hosein followed suit in the next, dismissing Sinclair, who was run out after a mix-up between him and new batsman Shepherd.
[caption id="attachment_983834" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Tagenarine Chanderpaul bats during the CG United Super50 Cup match. Photo by Lincoln Holder[/caption]
Motie’s five-run contribution carried Guyana to 184/8 after 40.3 overs with Shepherd and Pestano at the crease.
Shepherd batted well but soon lost Prestano, who could only muster up eight runs. At 201/9 with six overs to go, Shepherd opened the floodgates and showed no mercy on TT’s death bowlers.
He slammed six sixes and three fours in the remaining overs, scoring 64 of the 68 runs, to carry them to 269/9. Permaul also remained unbeaten on four.
Topping to Red Force bowling was Gabriel with 4/42, while Sunil Narine showed amazing form by capturing 3/17 from his ten overs. Cariah had 1/31.
Scores:
HARPY EAGLES 269 for nine off 50 overs (Romario Shepherd 74 not out, Sherfane Rutherford 49, Anthony Bramble 42, Tevin Imlach 32; Shannon Gabriel 4-42, Sunil Narine 3-17)
RED FORCE 266 for nine off 50 overs (Darren Bravo 71, Kjorn Ottley 49, Yannic Cariah 30, Sunil Narine 30 not out; Romario Shepherd 3-44)
 
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