Brilliant Khary Pierre spins Red Force to win over CCC in Super50 opener

A brilliant spell of spin bowling from vice-captain Khary Pierre (four for eight) helped defending champions TT Red Force to a 60-run win in the first game of the 2024 CG United Regional Super50 tournament versus Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) at the Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Ground at UWI, St Augustine on October 29.

In the build-up to the match, Red Force assistant coach Rayd Emrit, who's currently deputising for David Furlonge because of medical reasons, told Newsday he was dissatisfied with the pitch conditions at St Augustine. Emrit said the practice pitches were underprepared, while the pitch for the match looked to be of a similar nature.

With the batsmen faced with a turning wicket with inconsistent bounce for the Super50 opener, the bowlers had their way. Red Force were bowled out for a modest 194 from their 50 overs, but that score was made to look like a mammoth one as Pierre and leg-spinner Yannic Cariah (three for 31) combined to roll over CCC for just 134 in 38.1 overs.

In their pursuit of 195, CCC appeared to be cruising at 76 for one with the pair of Shaqkere Parris (57 off 68 balls) and TT batsman Kamil Pooran (18 off 61) in the midst of their 67-run stand for the second wicket. The game turned drastically on its head, though, as CCC lost their last nine wickets for just 58 runs.

The slide started with the dismissal of the usually expressive Pooran, who was well caught in slip by Bryan Charles off the leg-spin of Cariah in the 19th over.

Parris, who featured for four-time Caribbean Premier League (CPL) champs Trinbago Knight Riders as an emerging player in the 2024 season, seemed to be batting on a different pitch as he got to his fifty off 62 balls with a six to mid-wicket off Cariah in the 25th over.

In the next over, though, the 21-year-old Barbados right-hander was dismissed when he tried to cart Cariah for another six – falling to an excellent running catch by Pierre on the square leg boundary. CCC slipped to 102 for three with the fall of Parris' wicket which caused a domino effect as it took just 12 overs for Red Force to take the remaining wickets.

"The way Shaqkere batted at the wicket, I thought he batted well. The bowlers stuck to their plans," said Pierre, who claimed the Man of the Match award. "I think once we got him out, as you could see, it was the end for the rest of the batsmen to come."

Pierre said the pitch was like a bowler's paradise.

"I think once you challenged the batsman's technique, it was just for the batsmen to make the mistake.

"It's a wicket where once the new batsmen come in, it's difficult to start...I think it was easy for us in the end."

Pierre said they observed the wicket was a "challenging" one after being sent in by CCC. And although he felt they were 20 runs short with the bat, Red Force had enough in the tank with the ball to get the job done.

Demario Richards (six off 26) had a miserable stay at the crease before becoming Cariah's third wicket, with allrounder Akshaya Persaud (eight) falling to the miserly Pierre as he swung a short-pitched delivery to the safe hands of Jyd Goolie on the mid-wicket boundary.

CCC captain Shamarh Brooks (ten) was dismissed by Jason Mohammed (one for 30) via a soft dismissal, with Mikkel Govia (ten) being adjudged lbw by umpire Carl Tuckett off Pierre's bowling in the 37th over. Govia's dismissal was a contentious one, as the allrounder played the ball to the off-side. However, Tuckett critically deemed the ball struck Govia's pad before the sound of bat on ball intervened.

The tail didn't stick around for long as Charles cleaned up Romario Greaves and Pierre added two more wickets to claim four wickets in a spell which also included four maidens.

Earlier, the hosts found the going tough on the tricky surface, but several players got starts to help them to their eventual match-winning total.

Showing a clear sign to curb their usual attacking intent, opening batsmen Kjorn Ottley (45 off 89) and Tion Webster (26 off 50) shared a 61-run stand before the latter fell to off-spinner Greaves (two for 30).

Ottley then added a purposeful 52 with the busy Amir Jangoo (29 off 42) before Red Force lost a flurry of wickets to slip from 113 for one to 122 for five in a five-over span.

Captain Joshua Da Silva (four) and veteran Jason Mohammed (one) were both dismissed cheaply as TT looked to be in big trouble.

However, with their backs against the wall, the pair of Goolie (37 off 50) and Cariah (28 off 43) put together a timely 68-run stand fo the sixth wicket to add a measure of respectability to the TT innings before seamer Amari Goodridge (three for 18) struck three times in the final over to close the first innings.

It wasn't a memorable performance with the bat by any stretch, but the Red Force spinners did the job to ensure the hosts started the Super50 on a high note.

Pierre said the best is yet to come.

"As sportsmen, we can say (there's) pressure but we have to go out there and play good cricket. It's just about going out there, taking it game by game and lifting the trophy again."

Red Force will play their second match against Windward Islands Volcanoes at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba from 1 pm on November 1.

Summarised Scores:

TT RED FORCE – 194 from 50 overs (Kjorn Ottley 45, Jyd Goolie 37, Amir Jangoo 29; Amari Goodridge 3/18, Akshaya Persaud 2/29) vs Combined Campuses and Colleges – 134 from 38.1 overs (Shaqkere Parris 57, Kamil Pooran 18; Khary Pierre 4/8, Yannic Cariah 3/31). TT won by 60 runs.