The Trinidad and Tobago Red Force will be chasing their second come-from-behind victory of the Professional Cricket League four-day tournament when the final day of their third-round contest against Jamaica bowls off at 9:30 a.m. today. The home team needs a further 215 runs for victory with nine wickets intact after closing the penultimate day on 24 for one having been set a victory target of 239.
The Jamaicans started the penultimate day on 92 for four with an overall lead of 134, and despite losing overnight batsman Tamar Lambert for 21 in the second over of the day, the visitors still managed to stretch their lead past 200 thanks to some stubborn batting from Damion Jacobs (29) and Nikita Miller (40).
They were eventually dismissed for 196 giving T&T 11 overs to negotiate before the close. Lendl Simmons (eight not out) and Evin Lewis (ten) batted nine overs before the latter was caught off the bowling of Miller in the penultimate over of the day with the light fading quickly.
Night-watchman Marlon Richards (zero not out) successfully negotiated the remaining overs with Simmons but T&T still have a lot of work to do today if they are to pull off the win. Earlier, overnight and early morning rain yesterday delayed the start of the third day’s play by more than an hour but that did not disturb the hosts.
Skipper Rayad Emrit struck early to get rid of Lambert, who top-scored for Jamaica in their first innings, via the lbw route. But Jacobs, who was on zero overnight, frustrated the T&T bowlers throughout the morning session, taking the score to 108 for six when rain interrupted again forcing the players to take an early lunch. After that, the Jamaican spinners, Jacobs and Miller put on 25 for the eighth wicket before Jacobs was finally out, caught and bowled by Daniel St Clair. He faced 89 balls.
Miller and last man Sheldon Cottrell continued to defy the T&T bowling attack, taking the lead past 200 without much risk when another shower forced the players back to the pavilion for an early Tea with the with the Jamaicans on 170 for nine and an overall lead of 212.
A total of 30 overs and a little over two and a half hours were lost due to rain. After the break, Miller put on a further 36 runs with Cottrell (11 not out) before he was finally out lbw by Akeal Hosein late in the afternoon. Then Miller’s late removal of Lewis ensured the visitors enjoyed the better of the penulatimate day but there could still be some drama on the final day today.
