Red Force coach wary of Harpy Eagles threat

TT RED Force head coach David Furlonge is wary of the Guyana Harpy Eagles in the first semi-final of CG United Super50 tournament, saying they are always a threat in tournaments.

Red Force and Harpy Eagles will battle at Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba on Wednesday at 1 pm. The players will be hoping for clear skies as there has been rain in Trinidad over the past two days. Red Force defeated Barbados Pride in their last preliminary match on Sunday to seal top spot after the preliminary round.

"We wanted to have momentum going into the semi-finals," Furlonge said.

"We stress so much on playing that last round-robin game as a final to get into first place and have momentum going into the final."

Harpy Eagles were inconsistent during the preliminary phase of the tournament, but did enough to qualify for the semi-finals with a fourth place finish. On the other hand, Red Force were clinical winning all their matches that were completed. In seven matches, Red Force won five and two matches ended in a no result because of rain.

Furlonge said Red Force are not taking Harpy Eagles lightly, despite their form in the preliminary phase.

"Guyana is always a threatening team, but again we have to do our homework and get things right."

Red Force spinners Sunil Narine and Yannic Cariah have led the way with the ball with 16 wickets apiece. Narine is bringing his career to an end in prolific form as he announced last weekend that he will retire from international and national duty. The 2023 Super50 will be his last tournament for Red Force, but he will continue to play franchise cricket.

Spin will play a factor in the match as the Harpy Eagles are equipped with quality spinners, including the left-arm pair of Gudakesh Motie and captain Veerasammy Permaul, along with off spinner Kevin Sinclair.

"The spin factor will be very important," Furlonge said, but knows with moisture around it may also help the pacers. "The wicket would have been covered whole day today (Tuesday) because of the weather. The covers came off a bit this morning when we were there then it had to go right back on so the wicket will be covered whole day, so there would also be moisture there."

Two Red Force batsmen are among the leading run scorers in the tournament. Darren Bravo is the second highest run scorer in the tournament with 323 runs and opener Kjorn Ottley is fourth on the scoring charts with 259 runs.

Bravo told Cricket West Indies media on Sunday that the Red Force players want to succeed for Narine. Furlonge echoed Bravo's comment.

"At the last team meeting we discussed that we have one more goal – to win the tournament for Sunil...that is also one of his goals also to go out on a winning note, so we want to do our best to make sure that happens."

Red Force were unable to train on Tuesday because of rain, but did a team building exercise.

The second semi-final between Leeward Islands Hurricanes and Pride will be contested on Thursday at 1 pm at Brian Lara Cricket Academy. The final will be played at the same venue on Saturday at 1 pm.