Stylish T&T Red Force middle-order batsman Darren Bravo came up three runs short of his century, but nevertheless he smashed a brilliant 97 in front of over 300 cheering fans to lead the host to healthy 270 for seven off 50 overs batting first in the finals of the 2016 Nagico Super50 finals against Barbados Pride at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain last afternoon.
Coming into the tournament in the latter stages, the dapper left hander continued his rich form and followed his 82 and 95 in the previous two encounters with 97 in the championship match.
He would have counted himself unlucky not register his sixth regional List A century, as he edged West Indies captain and fastbowler Jason Holder to stand-in wicketkeeper Shai Hope, playing an expansive drive outside his off stumps. His final figures read, 104 balls, eight fours and two sixes. While he trudged off a dejected man, he received a massive ovation from the good crowd on hand, as he took his team from a position of uncertainty to one of strength.
Earlier, Barbados won the toss and decided to send T&T in as they did in their preliminary win. T&T got off to a wonderful start as opener Kyle Hope and Evin Lewis batted with any problems. Hope took the lead hand as his timing was on song. He peppered the onside boundary at regular intervals and laid a proper foundation.
Lewis joined in and they brought up a half century opening stand before Lewis was given out caught behind off Carlos Brathwaite for 25. The opener looked very disappointed at the dismissal and rightly so, as television reviews showed that umpire Patrick Gustard made a wrong call. His 25 runs came off 34 balls with four fours.
Hope and Kjorn Ottley took the score into the 70s but a double strike brought Barbados right back into the game. Hope the Christchurch born Barbadian finally allowed his countrymen to breathe, as he left the arena leg before to Dwayne Smith for 34. He faced 52 balls and struck six fours. Six runs later an uppish drive would bring the downfall of Ottley for 10, as Ashley Nurse finally got reward.
With Red Force in a spot of bother at 78/3, the experienced pair of Bravo and skipper Jason Mohammed joined forces. Batting sensibly, they were able to sway the innings back in favour of the locals. The two added 75 runs for the fourth wicket and Mohammed notched 31, before giving his hand away. He negotiated 40 balls and struck a six and a four.
West Indies batsmen Bravo and Ramdin took the score past the 200-run mark and soon after Ramdin left for 31. However, Bravo was still there to keep the runs flowing.
SCOREBOARD
E Lewis c Dowrich b Brathwaite 25
K Hope lbw Smith 34
K Ottley c Benn b Nurse 10
D Bravo c Hope b Holder 97
J Mohammed c Brooks b Benn 31
D Ramdin b Brathwaite 26
R Emrit run out 18
M Richards not out 9
Extras 2lb, 16w, 2nb 20
Total for 7 wkts (50) 270
Fall of wkts: 54, 72, 78, 153, 210, 253, 270.
Bowling: J Holder 8-1-54-1, A Nurse 9-0-42-1, C Brathwaite 10-1-54-2, S Benn 8-0-42-1, D Smith 7-0-32-1, J Warrican 5-0-16-0, J Carter 3-0-28-0.