Harpy Eagles and Red Force ready for Championship showdown

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC):

The stage is set. The 2026 West Indies Championship final will be a battle between the tournament’s two most formidable sides. Only one will lift the trophy.

The Guyana Harpy Eagles, having secured their final berth by finishing atop the standings, delivered a thunderous warning to their rivals with an emphatic innings-and-21-run demolition of the West Indies Academy.

Meanwhile, the Trinidad & Tobago Red Force earned their spot the hard way, grinding out a gritty 140-run playoff victory over Barbados Pride.

The championship decider begins Sunday, May 17, at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound.

At the Antigua Recreation Ground, the Harpy Eagles turned what was meant to be a warm-up fixture into a statement of intent.

The match, granted first-class status, saw the Academy post a respectable 485 all out, built on a remarkable 280-run seventh-wicket stand between captain Rivaldo Clarke (180 off 228 balls) and Amari Goodridge (123 off 185).

But Guyana’s response was nothing short of monumental. Matthew Nandu anchored the innings with a career-best 237, sharing a colossal 255-run fifth-wicket partnership with 19-year-old debutant Jonathan Van Lange, who announced himself with a fluent 133.

Richie Looknauth added 77, and Gudakesh Motie chipped in with 48 as the Eagles piled up 663, a commanding 178-run lead.

Then came the spin master class. Despite ARG’s featherbed reputation, Looknauth ripped through the Academy’s second innings with astonishing figures of 6-36 from 12 overs. Motie (2-27) and Thaddeus Lovell (2-56) completed the rout as the Academy folded for 157.

Across town at the Coolidge Cricket Ground, the Red Force’s path was far more harrowing. After posting 333 in their first innings, T&T’s pace trio of Anderson Phillip, Terrance Hinds, and Jayden Seales reduced Barbados to 47-6. But lower-order resistance from Leniko Boucher (80), Shamar Springer (51), and Joshua Bishop, stranded agonisingly on 99 not out, dragged the Pride to 296.

Bishop then turned tormentor with the ball, claiming 6-87 as Red Force managed 280 in their second innings. Cephas Cooper, dismissed in the 90s in the first dig, finally raised his century, while Khary Pierre’s crucial 64 helped set Barbados a target of 318.

The Pride never stood a chance. Pierre (5-54) and Bryan Charles (4-62) delivered a spin bowling master class, skittling Barbados for 177 to seal a 140-run victory.

This is a clash of two sides peaking at precisely the right moment. Guyana’s batting, anchored by the irrepressible Nandu and the dependable Tagenarine Chanderpaul, looks daunting.

Their spin attack, Motie, Veerasammy Permaul, and the newly unplayable Looknauth, is fearsome.

But Trinidad & Tobago have match-winners of their own. Pierre is a proven dual threat. Their pace attack, led by Seales, gives them an aggressive first-innings edge on what could be a four-day war.

Red Force skipper Joshua Da Silva paid respect to the favourites while sounding a warning. 

“There’s a reason they’ve done so well in the red-ball format over the last few years. We know we might be going in as the underdogs, but that’s good for us. We know the strength that we have. With Andy, Jayden, Bryan, and Khary, the bowling attack is one force that is really the strength. We’re leaving it all out on the field, and may the better team win.”