A BATTLING half century by West Indies wicket-keeper Joshua Da Silva was the only bright spark of the TT Red Force batting performance as Leeward Islands Hurricanes seized control of their round three West Indies Four-Day Championship contest at the Diego Martin Sporting Complex, on Thursday.
Responding to the Hurricanes total of 357, Red Force were dismissed for 140 which was a deficit of 217 runs on first innings.
At one stage, Red Force were 10/4 after Tion Webster (duck), Jeremy Solozano (duck), Jason Mohammed (duck) and Darren Bravo (seven) were all sent back to the pavilion.
The Hurricanes pacers did the bulk of the damage on the day as Jeremiah Louis and Colin Archibald Jnr made life difficult for the Red Force batsmen.
Webster was caught at backward point by Hayden Walsh Jnr off Louis and his opening partner Solozano was caught by wicket-keeper Amir Jangoo to give Louis another scalp. Mohammed was next to go bowled by Louis and Bravo was caught at third slip by Terance Warde as Archibald joined in on the fun.
Red Force were in need of some inspiration at lunch, struggling on 19/4 with Da Silva on one and Yannic Cariah on nine.
Captain Da Silva and Cariah tried to rescue the Red Force innings with Sheno Berridge and Archibald aiming to sink the home team in a deeper hole.
Da Silva and Cariah attempted to play positively with the former finding the fence on a few occasions.
Louis found the breakthrough when he trapped Cariah leg before for 18 to leave Red Force 44/5 and desperate for a partnership.
West Indies all-rounder Akeal Hosein joined Da Silva and showed some aggression cracking a couple fours.
Hosein, however, gave his wicket away for 15 when he played a ball from left-arm pacer Archibald to mid-wicket where Kaecy Carty took a comfortable catch.
[caption id="attachment_955705" align="alignnone" width="1024"] TT Red Force captain Joshua Da Silva plays a shot while Leeward Islands Hurricanes' wicketkeeper Amir Jangoo looks on, during the second day of their West Indies Championship third round match, at the Diego Martin Sporting Complex on Thursday. - AYANNA KINSALE[/caption]
Da Silva and Bryan Charles then gave the small crowd a glimmer of hope with a promising partnership.
The pair tried to push the singles as tea time drew closer.
Charles played one of the shots of the day when he went down on one knee and cracked a full pitched ball from medium pacer Carty to the cover fence.
Da Silva, who continued to look composed at the other end, survived a vociferous appeal by the Hurricanes for a catch by Jangoo off leg spinner Walsh.
At tea, Red Force were 102/6 with Da Silva on 41 and Charles 18.
Da Silva brought up his 50 with a four down to long on, hitting his chest and lifting his bat as the crowd and his teammates appreciated the effort.
The expectation of a Red Force come back was dashed when Berridge broke the 64-run partnership as Charles was caught at first slip by Hurricanes captain Rahkeem Cornwall for 25.
After all the resistance showed by Da Silva he fell
