TAROUBA, Trinidad, (CMC) – Spin bowling triumvirate Jomel Warrican, Hayden Walsh, Jr and Kenroy Williams reversed decades of heartaches for Barbados Pride batsmen, when they bowled the visitors to a 207-run victory over Trinidad & Tobago Red Force in the Regional 4-Day Championship on Sunday.
Left-arm spinner Warrican was the most impactful, grabbing 3-13 from 12 overs to finish with match figures of 9-84 to earn the Player-of-the-Match award, as the Red Force, chasing 324 for victory, were bowled out for 116 just before tea on the final day of their seventh-round match at the Brian Lara Cricket Ground.
Leg-spinner Walsh took 3-41 from 14 overs, and Williams bagged 3-46 from 21.5 overs and had the privilege of formalising the result when he had Bryan Charles caught at slip for 13.
Red Force captain Denesh Ramdin was again the glue that held his side together, but he was unable to unleash another hundred like the first innings, but hit the top score of 24. No other batsman passed 20.
The result meant that Pride – after starting the match placed fifth in the League table with 56.8 points – earned 16.4 points and Red Force – after entering the match positioned third with 67.6 points – gained six points.
Earlier, Pride added 33 to their overnight total at a little under a run-a-ball before they declared their second innings on 221 for seven.
Neither overnight batsman was dismissed – West Indies 2016 Under-19 World Cup-winning all-rounder Shamar Springer finished with the top score of an unbeaten 51 from his overnight 38 and wicketkeeper/batsman Mario Rampersaud, who resumed on eight, remained not out on 26.
Pride batsmen of past generations would recall the fierce battles they endured with the spin bowlers of Red Force in typically helpful conditions – suffering terribly at the hands of the likes of Ranjie Nanan, Rajindra Dhanraj, Raphick Jumadeen, Imtiaz Ali and others too numerous to name.
This victory must have been a source of delight for the current crop of Pride, considering that the spinners collected all nine wickets that fell in the second innings, in addition to eight in the first innings.
The slide to defeat for Red Force started when Williams removed left-handed opener Amir Jangoo to the first of five lbw decisions in the innings.
Before they knew it, Red Force were 51 for five, and though Ramdin and veteran Imran Khan shared 31 for the sixth wicket, it would have required a far greater effort which never came.
The Championship will be on hold for the next three weeks for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays before resuming on Thursday, January 4, when Red Force host Leeward Islands Hurricanes at Queen’s Park Oval, at the same time that Pride welcome Windward Islands Volcanoes to Kensington Oval.