“We hit our targets with the bat and ball.”

Trinidad and Tobago Red Force stand-in skipper Bryan Charles was a happy man after his team was able to accomplish what they wanted to in whipping the West Indies Academy by six wickets, with a day to spare, in their second-round West Indies Championship match, at Conaree Cricket Ground, in St Kitts, yesterday.

The match ended just after tea on the third day of the four-day fixture with the Red Force securing full points in a dominant display on a tricky wicket, while ensuring they made up some ground after their opening game was abandoned after one day.

Yesterday’s victory was even sweeter for Charles and company given that almost half of the team was battling the flu.

The Red Force would have taken control of the game on the first day through the combined efforts of pacers Anderson Phillip and Jayden Seales, who took three wickets each when the Academy were dismissed for 163. The Red Force took a 166-run first innings lead after Jyd Goolie’s 113 on the second day.

Continuing on 77 for three on the third morning, the Academy were eventually dismissed for 224 with Phillip bagging four wickets for 33 runs while Charles claimed four for 57. Khary Pierre also grabbed two for 42 for the Red Force.

Set 59 to win, the Red Force had to work hard on a wicket that kept low at times but eventually reached 60 for four to seal full points which was crucial after their first-round washout against defending champions Guyana Harpy Eagles at the same venue last week.

“I think the team performed well,” Charles told the Express after the win. He said the pacers set the game up for them with the ball and he was also happy to see the batters also coming up trump.

“The fast bowlers started really well in the first innings; Andy and Jayden bowled really well and they got three wickets each and they really set up the game for us. When it came to the batting, Jyd did well to get 113 and (Amir) Jangoo batted with him as well,” noted Charles, who was standing in for the injured Joshua Da Silva.

“I think since we started this campaign, the team has been pretty confident. Our bowling attack is really good and the batsmen have really been coming into their own. We have been getting good starts and that is something we have struggled with over the years, and the middle order has been scoring the bulk of the runs for us so far,” Charles assessed.

Of the win, he said: “We got it in the end…not as convincing as we wanted to but we still got there. One of our targets was to bowl out the team for under 200 and to score over 300 runs, so we are happy to have done that in this game,” added Charles.

Of the Red Force campaign so far, Charles said despite the first-round washout, things have been going well for his team. “Even though the first game didn’t have play after the first day, I think we were batting well and were in a good position after Jason’s (Mohammed) hundred,” said Charles, adding, “We executed well in this game to come out with full points.”

The Red Force will face the Leeward Islands Hurricanes in their next martch bowling off on Wednesday at Warner Park.

Summarised Scores:

At Conaree Cricket Ground, St Kitts

CWI ACADEMY 163 (Teddy Bishop 65; Jayden Seales 3-26, Anderson Phillip 3-63) & 224 (Carlon Bowen-Tuckett 46; Anderson Phillip 4-33, Bryan Charles 4-57, Khary Pierre 2-42) vs RED FORCE 329 (Jyd Goolie 113, Vikash Mohan 54, Amir Jangoo 40; Ashmead Nedd 6-78, Joshua Bishop 3-116) & 60-4 (Joshua Bishop 3-28). —Red Force won by 6 wickets

At Kensington Park, Jamaica

PRIDE 214 (Kevin Wickham 74; Ryan John 4-47) & 126 (Shamar Springer 4-44, Ryan John 3-28) vs VOLCANOES 325 (Jeremy Solozano 86, Sunil Ambris 72, Kimani Melius 53; Jomel Warrican 5-59, Chemar Holder 2-60) & 18-1. —Volcanoes won by 9 wickets

At Sabina Park, Jamaica

MAROONERS 307 (Jonathan Carter 135; Gordon Bryan 3-66, Ojay Shields 3-78) & 87 (Kirstan Kallicharan 29; Peat Salmon 4-12, Gordon Bryan 3-19) vs SCORPIONS 331 (Chadwick Walton 163, Carlos Brown 48, Peat Salmon 45; Zishan Motara 7-108) & 69-0 (Chadwick Walton 46 n.o.) —Scorpions won by 10 wickets

At Warner Park, St Kitts

HURRICANES 352 (Mikyle Louis 113, Jahmar Hamilton 77, Rahkeem Cornwall 54; Ronaldo Alimohamed 5-69) & 295 (Mikyle Louis 130; Kevlon Anderson 5-57) vs EAGLES 188 (Ronaldo Alimohamed 41; Daniel Doram 4-40, Jeremiah Louis 3-42) & 67-1 (Tagenarine Chanderpaul 40 no, Raymond Perez 20 no). Position: Eagles need a further 393 runs to win.