Scorpions continue toil against Red Force

The Jamaica Scorpions continue to find themselves behind the eight ball at the close of Day two of their Cricket West Indies Professional Cricket League Regional 4-Day Championship match against the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba.

The visitors closed on 94 for three, still trailing by 366 runs after the home team piled up a massive 460 for four declared, thanks to centuries from wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva and Yannic Cariah.

Paul Palmer Jr is not out on 31 and with him is Rovman Powell on 25, as off-spinner Brian Charles has so far picked up the wickets of captain John Campbell for 18 and Jermaine Blackwood, six.

Debutant fast bowler Terrance Hinds has accounted for the other wicket to fall, that of opener Assad Fudadin for nine.

Earlier, it was another torrid day in the field for the Scorpions, who managed to pick up just one wicket, that of captain Darren Bravo, lbw to Derval Green for 66.

Before that, Bravo and wicketkeeper Da Silva added 86 runs for the fourth wicket as the Red Force resumed on their overnight 241 for three.

With Dennis Bulli and Alwyn Williams still unavailable because of injury, the Scorpion bowlers struggled to get any sort of penetration with debutant left-arm spinner Patrick Harty Jr carrying the bulk of the load with 36 wicketless overs, which cost 117 runs.

Once again, seamer Derval Green put in another workmanlike shift, and it was just reward when he removed Bravo with the score on 300 for four.

That would be the only respite for the visitors as Da Silva and Cariah continued the onslaught. The pair shared in an unbroken 160-run fifth-wicket partnership which saw Da Silva getting to his maiden first-class century just after tea.

The right-hander faced 216 balls and hit eight fours and a six in his unbeaten knock of 113.

The left-handed Cariah was equally impressive, as he got to his fourth regional first-class century off 135 balls with seven fours and two sixes.

RIGHT CALL

With a mammoth total of 460 on the board, captain Bravo issued a declaration immediately after Cariah’s milestone and the decision proved to be the right call.

The Scorpion openers Campbell and Fudadin negotiated the first eight overs nicely to get to 31. However, Fudadin would gift his wicket away, as his pull shot picked out Akiel Hosein at square leg of pacer Hinds for nine.

The very next over, captain Campbell, after surviving a confident lbw shout from off-spinner Brian Charles, played an audacious sweep shot the very next ball and was this time adjudged leg before for 18 to leave the visitors in problems at 32 for two.

Jermaine Blackwood joined Paul Palmer Jr and they put on 21 for the third wicket, but with the score on 53, Blackwood cut a Charles delivery onto his stumps for six.

Palmer, 31, and Powell, 25, then batted sensibly to add another 41 runs without further loss as the Scorpions closed day two on 94 for three, still 366 runs behind with two full days to play.