Jason Mohammed blasts three tons in a row for Red Force

JASON Mohammed, 38, cannot do anything wrong at the moment. He cracked his third consecutive century to start the West Indies Four-Day Championship season to put TT Red Force in control of their third-round match against Leeward Islands Hurricanes at the end of day one on February 12 at Warner Park in Basseterre, St Kitts.

Mohammed ended the day on 104 not out off 172 balls with nine fours and two sixes.

Red Force captain Joshua Da Silva scored a century of his own, hitting 120 not out off 163 deliveries with ten fours and one six.

The match was evenly poised with Red Force on 114/3 early in the second session, before the right-handed pair of Mohammed and Da Silva combined to put on an unbroken stand of 212 runs for the fourth wicket.

Mohammed, the leading run scorer in the tournament, struck 176 in the opening round against Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba. In the next round, he lashed 103 versus the Windward Islands Volcanoes at the Arnos Vale Playing Field in St Vincent.

At Warner Park, Mohammed got to triple figures with a four, blazing a full-pitched delivery from spinner Hayden Walsh Jnr to the cover boundary.

Da Silva was not scared to play his shots scoring at an impressive strike rate of 74.

Da Silva would have breathed a sigh of relief after failing to score in his only other innings this season, which was in round two against Volcanoes. Two overs after Mohammed got to the milestone, the Red Force skipper also got his century as Da Silva swept spinner Rahkeem Cornwall for four.

Ten overs were lost on the opening day due to smoke over the ground, which was followed by rain which brought an early end to the day’s play.

Earlier in the innings, opener Cephas Cooper could not replicate the form he has shown this season as he was dismissed for 14. Cooper scored 80 and 117 in his two previous innings.

Vikash Mohan was the next batsman sent back to the pavilion for 22 as Cornwall grabbed his first wicket. West Indies player Amir Jangoo played aggressively, belting six fours and three sixes, but fell early in the second session for 60 off 69.

Da Silva and Mohammed then joined forces to frustrate the Hurricanes for the rest of the day. Cornwall so far has 2/75 in 21 overs.

In other matches, Barbados Pride closed on nine without loss in response to Jamaica’s first innings score of 231 at Kensington Oval in Barbados. CCC closed on 137/5 against Windward Islands Volcanoes in a rain-affected day at Windsor Park in Dominica.

Up to press time at Providence Stadium in Guyana, the Guyana Harpy Eagles were 71/3 in a day/night match against West Indies Academy. Overs were lost on day one because of rain.

Summarised scores:

TT RED FORCE 326/3 (Joshua Da Silva 120 not out, Jason Mohammed 104 not out, Amir Jangoo 60; Rahkeem Cornwall 2/75) vs LEEWARD ISLANDS HURRICANES.

JAMAICA SCORPIONS 231 (Odean Smith 50, Jeavor Royal 43; Chaim Holder 3/66, Kraigg Brathwaite 2/1, Jomel Warrican 2/42, Kemar Roach 2/45) vs BARBADOS PRIDE 9/0.

CCC 137/5 (Damel Evelyn 53 not out, Johann Jeremiah 40; Darel Cyrus 2/28, Kenneth Dember 2/46) vs WINDWARD ISLANDS VOLCANOES.

GUYANA HARPY EAGLES 71/3 (Raymond Perez 29; Jediah Blades 3/15) vs WEST INDIES ACADEMY.