PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Trinidad and Tobago Red Force were propelled by Jeremy Solozano’s maiden first class hundred but Jamaica Scorpions were making a strong reply on the second day of their Regional First Class contest here yesterday.
Solozano, in his first outing of the championship, hit 110 to help lift Red Force to 271 in their first innings, after the hosts resumed on 145 for five at Queen’s Park Oval.
Wicketkeeper Steven Katwaroo struck 45 while tail-ender Marlon Richards chimed in with 26.
Seamer David Bernard Jr picked up three for 25 to spearhead the Scorpions attack.
Scorpions then lost John Campbell for two to the eighth ball of the innings with the score on three but recovered to reach 119 for three at the close.
Andre McCarthy was leading the fightback on 49 and was partnered by former skipper Tamar Lambert on 12.
Captain Paul Palmer made 35, his first double figure score in five innings this season.
Rookie seamer Daniel St Clair struck a crucial blow before tea when he had the left-handed Campbell caught at the wicket.
Palmer and Barbadian Kirk Edwards, who scored 19, then repaired the innings in a 43-run, second wicket stand, taking the visitors to the break at 36 for one.
The right-handed Edwards perished in the sixth over after tea, lbw to off-spinner Narsingh Deonarine but Palmer combined with McCarthy to add 27 for the third wicket.
Palmer, whose previous innings yielded nine runs, faced 70 balls in nearly 1-3/4 hours at the crease and stroked five fours before going bowled by leg-spinner Imran Khan.
Any thoughts Red Force had of making further inroads were quickly dashed as McCarthy and Lambert, in his 97th first class match, came together to see Scorpions safely to the close in an unbroken fourth wicket partnership worth 46.
The right-handed McCarthy has struck seven fours in a breezy 66-ball knock while Lambert has batted just over an hour and counted two boundaries.
Earlier, Solozano converted his overnight 69 into triple figures, hitting ten fours in an innings which spanned 274 balls and just over 5-1/2 hours.
He put on 115 for the sixth wicket with Katwaroo who, starting the day on 13, faced 159 balls in just under three hours at the crease and counted four fours.
