Red Force eye top spot ahead of Scorpions match

Table-toppers Trinidad and Tobago Red Force will meet defending champions Jamaica Scorpions in their penultimate 2023 Regional Super50 group stage encounter from 9 am at the Queen's Park Oval in St Clair on Thursday.

The matchup is a rematch of last year's Super50 final at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua, which the Jamaicans won by three wickets. This year, with a round-robin format which sees eight teams participating, the 2022 champions have yet to hit their stride and have lost all five of their matches so far. In contrast, coach David Furlonge's Red Force team have taken full advantage of the home conditions and currently head the table with 37 points on the back of four consecutive victories.

Still, Furlonge is wary of the threat posed by the "talented" Scorpions team and he says the Red Force shouldn't rest on their laurels.

"I haven't seen (the Scorpions) play this year so I can't pinpoint what's wrong with them but they are still a very talented team," Furlonge said in an interview with Newsday. "I think on their day they can beat any team in the tournament so we just have to be mindful of that and don't take them lightly or be complacent. I think what we have to try and exploit is the batting. We have to try and get them out as cheaply as possible."

The Scorpions have been bowled out for less than 200 runs in three of their five matches, with their score of 123 versus the Leeward Island Hurricanes on October 18 being the lowest score in this year's tournament to date.

Looking ahead to the semi-finals which got underway at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba next Wednesday, Furlonge says Red Force are yet to play their best cricket.

"We want to top the group stage of the tournament so that's what we are looking to do. We're playing good cricket. I don't think we have peaked as yet. We're improving as the games go along and the more you play, the more you get better. We are improving as we go along and hopefully we peak shortly.

"I think everybody so far has been putting their hands up. Everybody has been contributing well. We're just looking at the start of the other team's innings as they've been getting good starts against us. We're looking at that this week to see how we can control that."

It is quite tight at the top of the standings as the hunt for the four semi-final places continue. At press time, Barbados Pride were second with 36 points, closely followed by the Leewards in third spot on 35 points. The Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) were fourth with 27 points. The Scorpions bring up the rear of the table with just five points – all coming via the bonus points system introduced by Cricket West Indies (CWI).

For the business leg of the competition, the Red Force will be boosted by the presence of former West Indies skipper Nicholas Pooran, who will replace injured left-handed opening batsman Evin Lewis. The 31-year-old Lewis picked up a niggling hamstring strain earlier in the tournament and turned out in just one game against the Guyana Harpy Eagles on October 21.

"It was a grade one (hamstring) before that game and after the game it was a grade two. A grade two (hamstring) will take two weeks before he can be back so that would've probably taken us up to the final. We felt it best to replace him. We shouldn't have played him in that game."

In Pooran though, Red Force are welcoming a batsman who has played over 140 international matches for the men in maroon.

Coach Furlonge says the aggressive left-hander will stabilise the middle-order for the home team.

"A player of his quality can have a great impact with the bat. With his pride and energy he can have a great impact on the team going forward. We are still discussing that but I'm sure his batting position will be number four or five."