A spirited knock of 93 by Amir Jangoo and a flurry of wickets in the final session saw TT Red Force fighting back on day one of their West Indies Four-day Championships match against Barbados Pride at the Queen's Park Oval, St Clair.
Opting to bat first, the Red Force batsmen struggled against the Barbados attack and they were bowled out for just 172, with the left-handed Jangoo being the only player to get past 20. Jangoo, who returned to the Red Force playing XI due to the injury to Jyd Goolie, came in at number three after opening batsman Vikash Mohan was dismissed with the very first ball of the match by Jason Holder (four for 47).
Jangoo defied the opposition bowling attack and hit 14 boundaries in his innings and he increased his tempo with style while batting with the tail. As he approached what would have been a maiden First Class hundred, though, Jangoo was left stranded seven runs short of the landmark when last man Jayden Seales gifted Chaim Holder his third wicket of the innings to wrap up the home team's stay at the crease.
The Barbados opening pair of Kraigg Brathwaite (30) and Zachary McCaskie (46) saw off an initial early burst by the Red Force seamers, with the former surviving a strong lbw shout by Seales in the third over of the innings.
The Barbados skipper was then dropped on 30 by Bryan Charles off Khary Pierre's bowling, but his luck ran out when he was dismissed by Seales as he edged a ball through to wicket-keeper Joshua Da Silva. Barbados were 55 for one at that stage.
McCaskie and new batsman Raymon Reifer then put on 29 runs for the second wicket as Barbados cut into TT's lead, but the hosts struck back with three late wickets to leave the opposition on 99 for four at the end of the day's play.
First, Reifer was trapped lbw by Pierre for 12, before the left-arm spinner induced an edge from McCaskie in his very next over as Barbados slipped to 91 for three.
With night watchman Jomel Warrican in the middle with new batsman Jonathan Drakes, Da Silva brought seamer Anderson Phillip back into the attack and the move paid immediate dividends as the speedster bowled Warrican to bring an end to the day's play promptly.
Barbados trail TT by 73 runs and still have work to do to knock off the hosts' first-innings score.
Pierre has been the pick of the bowlers so far with figures of two for 18.
Earlier, former West Indies skipper Jason Holder tore through Red Force's top order as the hosts were reduced to 58 for six at the lunch break after the lanky bowler took four wickets in the opening session.
Mohan (duck), Kjorn Ottley (five), Jason Mohammed (two), Da Silva (duck), Tion Webster (11) and Imran Khan (duck) all went back cheaply as Red Force ended the first session in great danger.
After the lunch break, Jangoo soldiered on and had decent partnerships with Pierre (11), Charles (12), Phillip (15) and Seales before he eventually ended up stranded on the non-striker's end just short of a deserved ton.
Shaquille Cumberbatch (three for 50) and Chaim Holder (
