A welcome boost for WI Cricket

[Dunny]

Just finished watching Trinidad's first game in the T20 Champions League and they look like a really good unit gaining an impressive win over Somorset posting 150 then bowling out the opposition for 106.If they can keep up this level of performance they've got a chance of winning the competition.

[Peter R]

I saw most of the T&T batting and then about the first few overs they bowled. Listened to the rest of the match on radio. Somerset has a couple big names (or ex-bignames to be precise) in Justin Langer, Marcus Trescothick and Zander de Bruyn... these guys are getting on in age while the T&T side are all 30 years old or younger with players having Windies experience; Dwayne Bravo, Dinesh Ramdin, Darren Ganga, Rampaul, Pollard... in fact it would appear that all of them have represented the Winides in one form of the game or other. IMHO, this team is better than the Windies team that was embarrassed in the last Test series and in the ICC Champions trophy.

They should do well, but I hope they won't let success get to their heads... good luck to them.

[Dunny]

Champions Twenty20 League -
Group A
Hyderabad

T&T 149-7 (WKD Perkins 38) v Deccan Chargers 146-9 (AC Gilchrist 51)
T&T win by three runs

Trindidad & Tobago pulled off a dramatic three-run victory over the Deccan Chargers to send both themselves and Somerset through to the Super Eight stages of the Champions League.

IPL champions Deccan crash out off the competition after a ninth straight home defeat in Hyderabad having failed to chase down a victory total of 150.

Batting first, T&T made 149-7 from their 20 overs, William Perkins top-scoring with 38 and Kieron Pollard adding 31 with a quickfire innings that contained four lusty sixes.

That looked like no more than a par total on a batsman-friendly pitch and with skipper Adam Gilchrist at the crease the Chargers always looked favourites.

But when Gilchrist departed for 51 it became something of a struggle and in the end they came up just short following a superb last over from Dwayne Bravo.

Opener Lendl Simmons (seven) departed early for T&T as West Indies team-mate Fidel Edwards picked up the first of his three wickets.
Darren Bravo was next to go as he was caught and bowled by Tirumalasetti Suman for 14 while skipper Darren Ganga faced only two balls before being run out by Andrew Symonds for a duck.

Perkins, who went at better than a-run-a-ball, became Edwards' second victim as he was trapped leg before and when Dwayne Bravo was run out for just 11 the Caribbean outfit found themselves at 92-5.

But Denesh Ramdin and Pollard steadied the ship was a partnership of 33 with Pollard unleashing a series of thumping shots. He was the last man out for 31 as Sherwin Ganga (13 not out) helped push the score up towards 150.

The Chargers' chase started in explosive fashion with Gilchrist scything a six off just his second ball, but a clatter of early wickets was ultimately to cost them dear.

VVS Laxman was trapped leg before by Dwayne Bravo for four and the same bowler had Abhinav Kumar caught behind for just one before Andrew Symonds was run out having made two from four balls.

Gilchrist and Rohit Sharma looked to be seizing the momentum for Deccan as they put on 55 from 44 balls, but the game turned when the Australian was brilliantly caught on the boundary by a diving Pollard off the bowling of Simmons.

When Sharma quickly followed for 25 the Chargers looked doomed, but Scott Styris and Venugopal Rao put on a rapid 39 to rekindle local hopes.
Styris was run out for 14, but Deccan still looked favourites needing 20 from the final three overs only to lose the dangerous Rao for 30.

From the final over the hosts needed eight runs, but Bravo clean bowled RP Singh with a yorker and then ran out Edwards next ball to ensure they came up short.

[Peter R]

As it turns out an exciting win for the Trinis..I thought they would have lost as Deccan seemed on track but I think we do not give cricket enough credit for being a team sport; the T&T side has a good vibe among its players and they are all pulling for each other. Deccan is a cobbled together side and the only thing the team members have in common is the uniform.

Good going Trinis!

[Gamma]

and fat contracts

[Exile]

Yu see this team sport thing again...listen if your players not up to mark no ammount of team spirit will mak eyou win. TT has sm good Windies cricketers (for that level) and sm ex-players as well and sm potential ones...if it come sdown to the wire and players risking injury fo ra run or so well yes.. I guess team sprit will carry them thru.
I aways look at th eWorld Rankings for the test teams...good individual players GENERALLY a good team....not so in football.

[Dunny]

Champions Twenty20 League A
Hyderabad
New South Wales 170-4 (P J Hughes 83, D A Warner 63) v Trinidad & Tobago 171-6 (K A Pollard 54 no)
Trinidad & Tobago beat New South Wales by 4 wkts
A devastating display of power hitting from Kieron Pollard's saw Trinidad & Tobago to an unlikely four-wicket win over New South Wales.
Replying to the Blues' total of 170-4, T&T looked down and out in the Super Eights fixture in the Champions League at 118-6 in the 16th over when Denesh Ramdin became the third batsman to be run out in the innings.
However Pollard single-handedly steered his side to glory, belting five sixes and the same number of fours in an unbeaten 54 from only 18 deliveries.
Maximum

The all-rounder finished the game with nine balls to spare, thumping a maximum down the ground which also took him through to his half-century.
Poor Moises Henriques was the bowler to suffer. After picking up the wicket of Dwayne Bravo for one during an early two-over spell that cost just six runs, his next nine deliveries ended up going for an astonishing 43.
While Pollard produced the fireworks Sherwin Ganga was left a mere spectator at the other end, contributing a mere four in a partnership worth 53.
In the end New South Wales paid the price for bowling out frontline seamers Doug Bollinger (1-22) and Stuart Clark (0-27) early on.
Skipper Simon Katich would have thought the job was done after fine work in the field by his team ended dangerous knocks by Daren Ganga (32), Dwayne Bravo (27) and Ramdin, who made 23 from 13 balls.

Hughes over-shadowed

Pollard turned the game on its head, though, to overshadow Phillip Hughes' fine innings of 83 for the Blues.
The left-hander faced 63 deliveries for his runs, hitting 11 fours and a six before falling to Dwayne Bravo, who finished with figures of 3-31.
David Warner made 63 to help put on an opening stand of 121 with Hughes, while Henriques chipped in with a quick-fire 17. Leg spinner Samuel Badree ended up conceding 24 from his one over, though that wasn't even the expensive over of the night in Hyderabad.
Instead Henriques was the man to end up with that unwanted honour, Pollard taking him for 27 to help engineer a comeback of Lazarus proportions.

[Peter R]

Katich (and unfortunately so will Henriques) need to have his head examined! Talking pure cricket now, how do you fathom that decision to bowl Henriques again right after Pollard just DESTROYED him? When I saw that I really felt the story done.

Congrats to T&T though as they took their opportunities and made the most of it.

[Peter R]

Your view is (possibly) justified after Pollard's performance (one man destroyer). However, I still believe that any team can have a relationship with their team members that can have an intangible positive (as well as negative btw) impact.

[Exile]

Thanks for the endorsement (possibly). Hey, don't get me wrong team spirit is always good and players can be inspired to play 'above' their level (at times) but the Law of Averages will eventually take over...let's hope the TT streak continues...it's about time for Pollard..he reminds of a now discarded and retired Jamaican-Trini batsman.- Powell...let's hope his career doesn't get curtailed...but then back then there was no 20-20.

[Peter R]

Powell is exactly who he reminds me of in terms of his batting style... "wham bam thank you mam"... He (Powell) seems to be doing alright; he started a cricket coaching school but I don't know how well that is doing...

[Gamma]

sat thanks to stanford!

[Dunny]

T&T setting the champions league on fire yet again 213 from thier 20 overs.Some awesome hitting!!

[Dunny]

Champions Twenty20 League A Hyderabad
Trinidad & Tobago 213-4 (A Barath 63) v Eagles 189-5
Trinidad & Tobago beat Eagles by 24 runs
A comfortable 24-run victory over Diamond Eagles saw Trinidad and Tobago cruise into the semi-finals of the Champions League Twenty20 on Sunday.
Opener Adrian Barath top-scored with a 41 ball 63 as T&T raced to an astonishing 213 for four, with brutal knocks from William Perkins (35), Lendl Simmons (40) and Navin Stewart (33).
To secure a place in the last four the Eagles' needed to win with 5.4 overs or more to spare.
Opening batsmen Rilee Rossouw (44 off 19 deliveries) and Morne van Wyk kept them in touch but the South African outfit ran out of steam managed 189 for five in reply.
Perkins blasted Victor Mpitsang for a four and six in his first over with the new ball and continued to hit boundaries at will.
He and Barath, scoring at a slower rate in comparison, raised the 50 in just 4.2 overs finishing with 64 for no loss from the powerplay.
Perkins fell to Off-spinner Thandi Tshabalala as he backed away to clobber on the off-side but his wicket offered little respite as it only brought Simmons to the crease.
Hammered

He smashed the next ball for a six and followed up with a boundary as he Barath put on 76 for the second wicket before eventually falling to Ryan McLaren.
Kieron Pollard, who destroyed New South Wales Blues in the previous managed only 23 off 13 but Stewart hammered three boundaries and a six to take T&T past the 200-run mark.
Rossouw set the early pace in reply smashing Ravi Rampaul for consecutive blows and Dwayne Bravo for a boundary and two sixes in the first two overs of the innings.
The Eagles reached their half century even quicker than their rivals, Van Wyk also contributing with some big shots to take them past 50 off just 22 deliveries.
Van Wyk fell leg before to spinner Sherwin Ganga in his first over before dismissing Adrian McLaren as the Eagles began to lose momentum.
And when the big-hitting Rossouw holed out to Pollard in the deep off Simmons the Eagles' chas Skipper Boeta Dippenaar (33) and Dillon du Preez forged ahead but they both fell in quick succession, leaving the Eagles requiring 58 from 19 deliveries - they managed only 33.

[Dunny]

Champions Twenty20 League - Semi Final
Hyderabad
Cape Cobras 175-5 (J P Duminy 61 no) v Trinidad & Tobago 178-3 (D J Bravo 58 no)
Trinidad & Tobago beat Cape Cobras by 7 wkts
Trinidad & Tobago all-rounder Dwayne Bravo smashed an unbeaten 58 off just 34 balls to help overcome Cape Cobras in the semi finals of the Champions League.
The charismatic West Indian took the game away from the South African outfit during a scintillating 93-run partnership with captain Daren Ganga.
The pair's destructive stand came off just 55 balls as T&T chased down their target of 175-5 with seven wickets and four balls to spare.
Their reward is a final date with New South Wales Blues at the same Hyderabad venue on Friday.
Another virtuoso batting performance from JP Duminy had earlier inspired the Cobras to a commanding first-innings total at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
The South Africa left-hander struck 61 from 40 deliveries to follow up Herschelle Gibbs' scintillating 42 from 27 balls at the top the order.
However, Adrian Barath (29) and William Perkins (20) gave T&T a solid start in their chase, before Bravo and Ganga (44 off 31) came to the fore in the 11th over.
Speaking after the victory, the T&T skipper said: "We are not just content with this win and tonight we will be pretty chilled out.
"We had set ourselves goals and we have won five games, five virtual finals.
"We have got one more to go and once we successfully complete that, then the carnival will start