Ramdin wants Red Force batsmen to fire against Canada

TT RED Force captain Denesh Ramdin is counting on his batsmen to convert their starts, when his team aims for their third straight win in the Cricket West Indies (CWI) Regional Super50 Cup.

The Red Force will play Canada at the Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair from 2 pm, today. The Red Force defeated Windward Islands Volcanoes by 75 runs on Wednesday, before getting past Guyana Jaguars on Friday by 35 runs both at the Oval. The powerful Red Force batting line-up has failed to set the tournament on fire so far, as only Nicholas Pooran has shown form with two half centuries.

Ramdin wants more productivity from the top order. After the victory over the Jaguars Ramdin said, “We could do better with one top-order batsman batting right through the innings and not getting bowled out especially on this wicket. Responsiblity is important for one of the top five, top six batsmen to do that and not leave it for eight, nine and 10.”

The Red Force skipper said with players such as Lendl Simmons, Evin Lewis, Kyle Hope and himself, he knows they have the potential to be stronger with the bat.

“I am happy with the result, but I think we can do better with the bat. We are a better batting team than we are showing at the moment and (in the) bowling we could limit the extras to probably 10, 12. It could have cost us tonight (Friday), but thank God it didn’t and we are going to grow from strength to strength,” Ramdin said. Red Force gave away 29 extras including 16 wides against Jaguars.

Pooran topscored with 75 to guide the Red Force to 242 all out in 49.2 overs against the Jaguars.

The other Red Force batsmen struggled to find fluency as nobody else reached 30. The opening pair of Lewis and Simmons got Red Force off to a positive start putting on 51 for the first wicket. However, Lewis (22), Kyle Hope (two) and Simmons (26) all fell in quick succession, as Red Force were reduced to 67/3 in the 15th over.

Pooran and Ramdin then put on 63 for the fourth wicket, with the former dominating the partnership. Ramdin, who was one of five Red Force batsmen to get out in the 20s, was caught for 28 by Christopher Barnwell off Ramaal Lewis after he chipped down the wicket and skied the ball to the covers.

Kieron Pollard contributed 20, but Pooran was the sixth wicket to fall with the score on 194 in the 42nd over. Pooran was caught at deep midwicket for 75 off 80 deliveries with six fours and two sixes to give Romario Shepherd the scalp.

Pooran topscored for the Red Force with 89 in the opening match against Volcanoes. Dwayne Bravo scored 23 at the end of the innings to help boost the total. Clinton Pestano (3/46) and Shepherd (3/56) both took three wickets for the Jaguars.

In reply, the Jaguars got off to a strong start getting to 74/1 in the 17th over with Leon Johnson and Trevon Griffith in the middle. The spin trio of Sunil Narine, Imran Khan and Khary Pierre then combined to take the next seven wickets for the Red Force, as the Jaguars were reduced to 165/8 in the 40th over.

Ramdin praised the performance of his spinners saying, “With the ball you could not ask for a better effort from all the guys - (Sunil) Narine, Imran Khan and Khary Pierre - fantastic.”

The 60-run second wicket partnership between Johnson and Griffith was broken, when the former was caught by wicketkeeper Ramdin off Pierre for 32. Griffith was next to go for 38 with the score on 92, when he was stumped by Ramdin as Khan joined the party.

The Jaguars innings failed to gain any momentum, as the other batsmen failed to make an impact. Narine, who did not have the best 2018 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) campaign, ended with 3/28 in 10 overs. Pierre snatched 2/30 in 10 overs, Khan took 2/45 in 10 overs and Bravo grabbed 2/29 in 6.2 overs, as Jaguars were all out for 207 in 47.2 overs.