Star batsman Darren Bravo continued his way back to top form with a crunching 98 as the T&T Red Force defeated Guyana Jaguars by six wickets in their crucial Colonial Medical Insurance Super50 clash at the Queen's Park Oval in Port-of-Spain on Saturday.
Bravo and Jason Mohammed combined to take the Red Force past Guyana's first innings score of 218-8 in 46 overs in the rain-affected match.
Bravo and Mohammed, who continued his purple patch got together with the score at 51-3 in the 14th over and added 165 runs for the fourth wicket before Bravo fell two short of his second hundred of the tournament. His 98 came off 120 balls and included seven sixes and three fours.
Mohammed, with a century and two half-centuries in the tournament to date, ended unbeaten on 71 off 81 balls with two sixes and six fours.
With the win, the Red Force ensured that they were into the semis and will also finish atop Group B with 24 points.
Earlier, Jonathan Foo fought the entire T&T attack and carried the Jaguars on his back after their top batsmen capitulated against the quality spin from the local franchise. Their final tally would have been a lot less had it not been for his forthright unbeaten 97.
While Red Force skipper Imran Khan reaping havoc with three wickets for 23 runs off his 10 overs, Foo sat back and waited until Khan was done with his quota before he scored the bulk of his runs. His 97 came off 92 balls with four sixes and six fours.
His stand of 71 runs for the sixth wicket with Ronaldo Alimohammed was the backbone of the effort. The youngster got 27 but it was priceless.
Earlier, T&T won the toss and decided to send Guyana in to bat given the rain around. The dangerous Chandrapaul Hemraj was first to go, sent back by spinner Jon Russ Jaggessar for eight. The frustration that led to his wicket came from the pain of seeing just 17 runs on the board in the eighth over.
The spinners held sway and although ball-striker Chris Barnwell came in at three, he got tied down as the twirlers were in their element. He used 16 balls to notch six runs and could not help his team gather momentum. He couldn't depend on the dour Chanderpaul at the other end either, as he batted slowly.
All the while, the T&T bowlers were enjoying the afternoon watched by a small crowd.
Soon, Khan ended Chanderpaul's misery by sending him back to the pavilion where his illustrious dad Shivnarine Chanderpaul was stationed. His 25 came off 58 balls with one hit to the ropes.
Yannick Ottley, who grabbed a five-wicket haul earlier in the tournament, then got into the act with the wicket of Leon Johnson was back before Foo launched a relative comeback of sorts.
SCORES
GUYANA JAGUARS 218-8 (50) (Jonathan Foo 97 no, Ronaldo Alimohammed 27, Veerasammy Permaul 22, Imran Khan 3/23, Yannick Ottley 2/38) v T&T RED FORCE 220-4 (44.3) (Darren Bravo 98 no, Jason Mohammed 71 no).
Result: Red Force won by 6 wkts
