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JAMAICA Scorpions proved they were ready for the fight late against TT Red Force on day one of their West Indies Four-Day Championship match as a 50-run partnership between Javelle Glenn and Abhijah Mansingh guided the Jamaican franchise to 208/6 up to press time on April 2.
At the dinner break at 5.20 pm, the Scorpions were struggling to reach 200 batting first at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba in the penultimate round of the competition.
Two early wickets from Red Force pacer Joshua James and two more from the prolific left-arm spinner Khary Pierre left Scorpions on 158/6.
[caption id="attachment_1147391" align="alignnone" width="1024"] TT Red Force’s Cephas Cooper braces as Jamaica’s Jermaine Blackwood plays a shot during the West Indies four day championships at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba, on April 2, 2025.[/caption]
Despite the flurry of wickets falling in the second session of play, the Scorpions played confidently in the final session.
Red Force skipper Joshua Da Silva tried to keep the pressure on the Scorpions, starting the last session with his day’s best bowlers in James and Pierre. Glenn and Mansingh were ready for the task as the pair coped well against the Red Force bowlers.
Glenn and Mansingh did not only try to survive, as they found the boundaries regularly.
Up to press time at 7 pm, Glenn was 66 not out with five fours and two sixes and Mansingh was on 23 with three fours. The batsmen had already put on 57 unbroken runs for the seventh wicket.
Coming into the contest a lot would have depended on James with other pacers Jayden Seales and Anderson Phillip unavailable because of English county cricket commitments.
[caption id="attachment_1147393" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Jamaica’s Jermaine Blackwood plays a shot against the TT Red Force during their West Indies four day championship match, on April 2, at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba.[/caption]
James seemed ready for the responsibility, striking twice in the first 30 minutes of play in the day/night match. He first removed John Campbell for two and then sent Brandon King back to the pavilion for duck.
Red Force controlled the first hour of play as Scorpions crawled to 9/2 after eight overs.
Jermaine Blackwood and Kirk McKenzie avoided any further damage, progressing to 43/2 when rain stopped play for 30 minutes. During the rain delay the tea break was taken.
Shortly after the resumption, pacer Terrance Hinds had the chance to dismiss Blackwood when he was on 26. However, Hinds could not hold on to a sharp caught and bowled opportunity.
McKenzie and Blackwood were not shy at the crease after the rain interruption. The batsmen played their shots against Hinds and Shannon Gabriel, the two pacers replacing Phillip and Seales in the starting XI.
Off spinner Bryan Charles was also on the receiving end of boundaries, including a six over long on by McKenzie.
With the Scorpions approaching 100, Blackwood got to his 50 with a four through covers as he punished Charles for bowling short.
Blackwood would have been relieved to reach the milestone as he has been in a dry spell after starting this season with a bang.
Leg spinner Yannic Cariah, one of the leading wicket-takers for Red Force this season, got the breakthrough shortly after being introduced into the attack.
It was a dramatic over. Firstly, Charles could not hold on to a tough chance at first slip which gave Blackwood another life. The over did not end without success for the Red Force as Cariah got the wicket of McKenzie for 31 off 95 deliveries (four fours, one six) when the left-hander edged the ball to wicketkeeper Da Silva attempting to cut a short ball.
As the sun left the ground, the match also started to get a bit gloomy for the Scorpions.
Pierre, the best bowler in the tournament with more than 30 wickets, struck in his third over to leave Scorpions 111/4.
Blackwood’s luck ran out as he was out leg before to Pierre for 61 playing forward to a delivery. He faced 105 balls, hitting seven fours and one six.
Glenn and Brad Barnes started to build a partnership with the former being the aggressor. Pierre continued to have the tournament of his dreams as Barnes was caught by Da Silva to leave Scorpions on 136/5. Red Force felt they could have grabbed the wicket of Aldaine Thomas on the next ball, but the umpire turned down a confident appeal that would have given Da Silva another catch.
Jason Mohammed, who has scored more than 500 runs this campaign, took just three balls to deliver with his off spin as he snatched the wicket of Thomas leg before for five.
It was a full dose of spin before the dinner break as the quartet of Pierre, Cariah, Charles and Mohammed gave the fast bowlers a long rest.
At the break, Red Force would have been the happier team with the Scorprions 158/6 with Glenn on 39 not out and Mansingh on one not out.
Glenn and Mansingh then showed their quality in the closing session. Day two of the match will bowl off at 1 pm on April 3.
Second-placed Red Force are aiming for two victories to end the season with the title.
SCOREBOARD
TT Red Force vs Jamaica Scorpions
Scorpions inns:
J Campbell c Pierre b James*2
K McKenzie c Da Silva b Cariah*31
B King c Mohammed b James*0
J Blackwood lbw Pierre*61
J Glenn not out*66
B Barnes c Da Silva b Pierre*6
A Thomas lbw Mohammed*5
A Mansingh not out*23
EXTRAS (B4, LB7, WD1, NB2)*14
Total*208 for six wickets
Still to bat: Odean Smith, Ojay Shields, Marquino Mindley
Fall of Wickets: 3; 9; 105; 111; 136; 151
Bowling: James 11-6-20-2; Gabriel 8-4-7-0; Charles 19.1-5-51-0; Hinds 10-1-46-0; Cariah 5.5-0-25-1; Pierre 18-4-46-2; Mohammed 2-0-2-1
 
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