Port of Spain: The Trinidad & Tobago Red Force came out victorious by 4 wickets against the West Indies Academy in another nail-biting CG United Super50 Cup match on Saturday at the Queen’s Park Oval.
Batting first, the Academy posted a competitive 263 for 8 from their 50 overs. Ackeem Auguste top-scored with a brilliant, unbeaten 76 off 63 balls, which included 6 fours and 3 sixes, and he was complemented by a number of solid contributions. Matthew Nandu made 40, Kevin Wickham contributed 31, Kimani Melius added 29, and Matthew Forde chipped in with 28.
Experienced mystery spinner Sunil Narine was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/33 in 10 overs, while Mark Deyal, Jason Mohammed, Jayden Seales and Terrance Hinds took 1 wicket each.
The Red Force needed 264 to pick up their 4th win in 5 games, and they got there with just 8 balls to spare. However, the game may have panned out differently had the WI Academy not bowled an astonishing 30 wides. Jason Mohammed top-scored scored for T&T with 70 not out off 86 balls, hitting 7 boundaries in his time at the crease.
Tion Webster made 45 off 63 balls while opening the batting, but the Red Force still needed to rely on lower-order runs from Akeal Hosein, who made 31 from 25, and Terrance Hinds, who added an unbeaten 23 off 32 to bring the game home alongside Mohammed. Kevin Wickham had figures of 2/54 in 10 overs, while Joshua Bishop, Forde, Nandu and Kelvin Pitman took 1 apiece.
Ultimately, though, an indisciplined bowling effort probably cost the Academy the game while handing the Red Force their 4th Super50 Cup win.
