The Trinidad and Tobago Red Force players had their final practice match of the year at the National Cricket Center in Balmain this week and will now take a week off for the Christmas break before resuming training on December 29.
Darren Bravo ended the year on a high, scoring a century on the final day of the three-day match, which ended on Wednesday.
The Red Force is gearing up for the four-day West Indies Championship tour, which is scheduled to take place in February next year.
The left-hander hit 106 off 160 balls and batted for four hours, hitting ten fours and three sixes.
Bryan Charles also scored a half-century on Wednesday, 52 not out, as Bravo XI posted 336 for eight when the match ended.
Imran Khan XI batted first and posted 312 for seven declared, with Khan hitting 62, Leonardo Julien 76 and Sion Hackett scoring an unbeaten 51.
Julien’s best score came off 176 balls and he also batted for four hours. Among the bowlers in the Bravo team, young fast bowler Justin Manick grabbed three wickets for 32 runs from 15 overs, while off-spinner Charles took two for 76.
For Khan’s side, Ryan Bandoo took two wickets for 43 runs from 12 overs.
During the game, Red Force coach David Furlonge said that preparations were going well and he believes that once the players continue like this, good things will happen.
“I think once they prepare well, they will do well in the tournament,” Furlonge said.
“We had our first outdoor session last Friday. On Monday, unfortunately the game was stopped with about 34 overs left. The wicket was a bit tricky on Monday morning and if you look at the results of the openers you can tell they didn’t do well but, in my opinion, they did enough to avoid the threat of exposing the other batsmen. so that the batsmen go well,” he added.
Keagan Simmons and Cephas Cooper opened the batting for Khan’s side on Monday, with Simmons batting for 75 minutes and scoring 12 off 55 balls and Cooper facing 28 balls in 42 minutes at the crease for his two runs.
Jeremy Solozano opened the innings for the Bravo side, scoring 27 off 70 deliveries and staying in the middle for almost two hours.
Fitness is also something Furlonge wants to shore up ahead of the upcoming four-day tournament.
“We are working with all the players and I think once we get them fit enough, we are halfway there. I think we can make a good challenge”, he said.
“When we got back, we did a test to see where the players were. Some would have improved, some others, the standard would have dropped and we will talk to them because we want to see improvement.
“Let’s say in the yo-yo test the standard is 45; I don’t mind if a player does 30 or 20, but next time we check, don’t come and do 18 or 19. We want to see improvement from there, so it will show that we can get you to where we want you to be. ,” Furlonge concluded. The Red Force will have another practice game in early January before the North/South Classic that is scheduled to be played from January 12-15.
After the Classic, the team will continue preparations for the West Indies Championship with extended training sessions.
Summary results:
Khan XI 312-7 Dec (110 overs) (Leonardo Julien 76, Imran Khan 62, Sion Hackett 51 no; Justin Manick 3/32) vs Bravo XI 336-8 (97 overs) (Darren Bravo 106, Bryan no; Charles Ryan Bandoo 2/43)
– The match is tied
