Mohammed believes Red Force can go all the way

RED FORCE middle-order batsman, Jason Mohammed, believes the national squad can go all the way in this year’s Colonial Medical Insurance Super 50 Cup.

Following his stellar 101 not out (62 balls) performance against USA, at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, on Friday, Mohammed expressed pleasure with both the team and his individual performance. However, he insists there is still some work to be done if the hosts are to hoist the coveted trophy this time around.

“Our batting has been good so far but our death bowling has been a little bit off, in terms of finishing the innings strongly. I think we’ve been going for a little too much runs in death and we need to sharpen up on this. In the four games we have played, we also dropped a couple of catches so, this has to also improve a bit. Once we do that we will have a good all round performance and go far in this tournament,” stated the experienced TT batsman.

Originally, Friday’s clash was scheduled to bowl off from 1.30pm but due to persistent rainfall, the match got under way four hours later. Prior to the delay, TT won the toss and chose to bat first. According to Mohammed, the wet and slippery conditions did make it a bit tougher for both batsmen and bowlers.

During the match, TT batsman Odean Smith swung for a shot but watched his bat uncontrollably fly to mid-wicket due to his wet gloves. Additionally, USA’s bowling attack was forced to constantly dry the ball with a towel to ensure their spell was properly executed. Mohammed believes the wet conditions changed the competitive aura of the game.

“With all the rain, the conditions were a bit difficult for the bowlers to grip the ball,” he said. “If we had that opportunity to toss again, we might have chosen to bowl first with the Duckworth Lewis System coming into play. With the dew factor and wetness of the surface, we may have opted to bowl first in a situation like that.”

All in all, Mohammed credited his team-mates on their valiant effort and getting the job done, on Friday. He however, admitted producing a centurion performance was not his main intention.

“I think the way we batted was really well. To get to 244 in just 30 overs was a big positive and an excellent for us. All round, we had a good game even though they (USA) got to 200. It wasn’t really a goal in my mind (to achieve century) because I just wanted to increase the target and make it harder for the USA to catch us. I just want to stay in as long as possible. I didn’t have the 100 in mind but at the end, I’m grateful for getting there,” he concluded.