Coach: Red Force yet to hit full stride in Super50

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO RED Force coach David Furlonge has said despite his team's winning four of their five matches, he believes his players can still improve as the CG United Super50 tournament reaches the business end.

The only hiccup in the campaign for TT was a defeat by Leeward Islands Hurricanes on November 3 at Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba.

Red Force have just two remaining matches in the preliminary phase.

They will play Jamaica Scorpions at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy from 1 pm on November 12. Scorpions will be eager for a win to keep their chances alive of qualifying for the semifinals with a record of two wins, one loss and one no-result from four matches.

"We discussed after the last game that we still have not played our best game as yet," Furlonge said. "In the field we have not been as good as we want to be, and also we want to improve our running in between the wickets.

"We saw the improvement on the dot ball percentage in the last couple of games, which is something again we are working on."

Red Force's top order batting and spin attack have been leading from the front. Amir Jangoo has been the team's most prolific batsman, with ample support coming from Kjorn Ottley and Tion Webster. The middle order, including Jason Mohammed and Jyd Goolie, has also delivered when given the opportunity to bat.

"Since the beginning of the tournament I said our strength is in our batting, so I am not surprised," Furlonge said. "These fellas have been performing since earlier in the year in the four-day (tournament). We hope that they continue to improve and continue to score the runs."

Jangoo fell agonisingly short of a century when he fell for 96 off 109 deliveries against Hurricanes.

Less than a week later he made amends. The left-hander cracked 111 off 114 balls, with ten fours and two sixes, against Guyana Harpy Eagles at the Queen's Park Oval on November 9. It was his maiden List A century.

"I think that is a sign of more runs to come from him. He has a hunger for runs, so I am looking forward to him scoring a couple more centuries before the tournament is finish. He is a class batsman and he has been batting well since earlier on in the year."

The Red Force have arguably the most variety when it comes to spin bowling with leg spinner Yannic Cariah, left-arm spinner Khary Pierre and off spinner Bryan Charles also proving to be a handful for opposing batsmen.

"Over the years the spin has been our strength. I think that is probably where we missed the trick against the Leewards, opening with the two seamers, but that is gone already."

Furlonge did not take anything away from the fast bowlers led by Anderson Phillip, as they have a role to play.

Phillip and captain Joshua Da Silva will leave the squad after the match against Scorpions as they begin preparations for a two-match Test series between West Indies and Bangladesh, which bowls off on November 22 in Antigua. Furlonge said vice-captain Pierre is likely to take over as captain in the absence of Da Silva.