Alexis shines but Red Force lose warm-up
Published on Jan 19, 2017, 9:00 pm AST
SCORED UNBEATEN 36: Daron Cruickshank, left, in action for Queen’s Park.
Queen's Park Cricket Club (QPCC) batsman Nicholas Alexis stroked a measured half-century for the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in a day/night trial match on Wednesday, staking an early claim for a starting spot for next week's Regional Super50 championship.
Ironically, his innings, the highest of the match, came in a three-wicket defeat at the hands of the Parkites at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain.
Set 248 to win, QPCC had appeared to be well on their way until they lost a flurry of wickets and it took a steady, unbeaten hand of 36 from Daron Cruickshank to see them home at 252 for seven.
Taking first strike after Rayad Emrit won the toss, the Red Force top order was undermined by a combination of pace and spin. Kyle Hope had raced to 26 off 29 balls faced when pacer Shannon Gabriel had him caught, ending an opening stand of 36 with Evin Lewis after 6.5 overs.
Kevon Cooper then bowled Lewis for 12 and had Kjorn Ottley caught by Javon Searles for 17, leaving the Red Force 64 for three.
However, Alexis then featured in two partnerships to rescue the innings. He added 87 with Jason Mohammed, who was eventually caught off spinner Namir Suepaul after scoring 47 off 59 deliveries. Alexis then added a further 73 with Yannick Ottley, who retired after stroking a brisk 37 off 33 balls — a knock that included three fours and a six.
Alexis fell one run later, caught off the left-arm spin of Akeal Hosein; his 70 had come off 105 balls and included four fours and a six. By then, the Red Force were 225 for five and though wickets tumbled in the scramble for quick runs in the final five overs, Emrit would have felt that his bowlers were capable of defending 247.
Instead, out-of-favour West Indies pacers Ravi Rampaul and Sheldon Cottrell sent down 12 overs between them for 60 runs without taking a wicket.
Left-handed openers Justin Guillen and Jeremy Solozano put up 59 in exactly 13 overs before spinner Jon Russ Jagessar had Guillen caught by Lewis; the QPCC captain had scored 34 off 45 balls, striking three fours and one six.
Solozano had added a further 28 with Yannic Cariah, stroking six fours in a 49-ball 39 when he was run out by Kharry Pierre. Cariah and Darren Bravo then shared a third-wicket stand of 59 that threatened to take the game away from Red Force; but Pierre dismissed Cariah for 38, Imran Khan sent back Nicholas Pooran for 15 and when Bryan Charles bowled Bravo for 31, QPCC were 173 for five with 13 overs left.
But Cruickshank kept his head, gleaning an unbeaten 36 off 42 balls to steer the Parkites safely home, a six taking them to victory with ten balls to spare.
Khary Pierre (two for 51) and Imran Khan (two for 38) produced the best Red Force bowling figures.
Meanwhile, it was Barbadian Javon Searles who got the nod for Man-of-the-Match, after taking two catches and claiming the Parkites' best figures of three for 36 from 5.3 overs.
Summarised scores
Red Force 247 all out, 49.3 overs (N. Alexis 70, J. Mohammed 47, Y. Ottley 37 n.o.; J. Searles 3-36, K. Cooper 2-21) VS QPCC 252-7, 48.2 overs (D. Cruickshank 36 n.o., J. Solozano 39, Y. Cariah 38, J. Guillen 34, D. Bravo 31; I. Khan 2-38, K. Pierre 2-51).
—QPCC won by three wickets
