Red Force seek top three finish in final Four-Day match

Trinidad and Tobago Red Force captain Imran Khan wants to end the 2022 West Indies Four-Day Championship campaign with a victory over Guyana Harpy Eagles at the Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain.

The teams lock horns in their final fixture from 10am on Wednesday and a victory for the hosts could affirm them a third-place finish after five rounds.

The Red Force are currently fourth (47.2 points) in the standings while Guyana (51.2 points) are third. Barbados Pride (67 points) remain in pole position while Leeward Islands Hurricanes (65.4 points) are second.

Rounding off the table are Jamaica Scorpions (37.8 points) and Windward Islands Hurricanes (21 points) respectively.

Having started the tournament with convincing victories over Jamaica and Windward Islands respectively, a dismal batting display saw Red Force lose their following two matches against Leeward Islands and Barbados, which booted them out of the title race.

Khan, however, seeks a win against Guyana and would settle for a top-three finish.

“We’re still a bit disappointed from the past two games,” he said. “But we have to put that behind us and go forward with a positive frame of mind. The guys are confident and they’ve been training really hard as well.

“We just want to finish this season on a high. Being victorious in this last game will mean a lot to the team and we’ll have an opportunity to finish third as well. There’s a lot to play in the last game for the Red Force.”

Khan confirmed on Tuesday that there have been no official changes to the squad and believes everyone who played in the last two rounds is available for selection.

Although disheartened by their past two performances, the TT skipper said his team has been training intensely ahead of their final test in search of a positive result.

“When we started the campaign, everyone said we had a good chance of winning the title after getting back-to-back wins in our opening matches. Unfortunately, we lost the next two.

“I still think we have a bunch of talented guys," he added. "They have been training really hard and I cannot fault them for that although some results didn’t go our way.

“As a group, I think we are heading in the right direction fitness-wise. I think one area of the game we could try to work on is the mental part, so when tough times come around we can come out of these situations and be better players going forward.

“There are a lot of good youths as well so it’s about taking the chances and moving on from there. I would like the group to stay, train and prepare together going forward for other tournament, regionally especially.”

Barbados however, are favoured to retain the championship title over the next four days as they square off against cellar-placed Windward Islands at the Diego Martin Sporting Complex, Diego Martin on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Jamaica and Leeward Islands contest their final match at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba.

TT last won the four-day championship in 2006.