PORT-OF-SPAIN – Trinidad and Tobago annihilated previously unbeaten Guyana to extend an impressive winning streak and install themselves as heavy favourites to repeat as Caribbean Twenty20 champions on Saturday night.
Urged on by a noisy capacity crowd at Queen’s Park Oval, the hosts piled up an imposing 191 for four, the tournament’s highest score.
Man-of-the-Match Darren Bravo belittled Guyana’s bowlers en route to a sublime unbeaten 82 from 51 balls while Kieron Pollard turned up at the end to play a blinder, slamming an unbeaten 44 from a mere 17 balls.
Their unbroken fifth wicket partnership yielded an exhilarating 64 from just 27 balls and brought the innings to an explosive climax.
Deflated by the onslaught, Guyana found no answers when they batted, and limped to 111 for six off their 20 overs, despite veteran left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s 53.
The emphatic nature of Trinidad and Tobago’s victory was a strong statement ahead of the second phase of the tournament in St Lucia starting Tuesday. After four matches, they are clear leaders on 13 points, with Jamaica second on nine points, and Windward Islands, Guyana and Barbados all on eight.
Surprisingly sent in, Trinidad and Tobago started shakily when they lost both openers cheaply with only 26 on the board.
Darren Bravo and his brother Dwayne then combined in a 48-run, third wicket stand off 33 balls to revive the innings and lay the groundwork for the late assault, which duly came.
The left-handed Darren combined power with poise as he counted eight fours and four sixes. Dwayne, meanwhile, provided the support as he hit two boundaries in a run-a-ball 19.
Darren lost his older brother to a catch at long on by Jacobs off off-spinner Narsingh Deonarine in the 11th over at 74 for three, but carried on unfettered to reach his half-century with another six off the out-of-sorts left-arm spinner and Guyana captain Veerasammy Permaul in the 14th over.
He added a further 54 off 30 balls for the fourth wicket with captain Denesh Ramdin (20) but it was his partnership with Pollard that set the Oval on fire.
Together, they ensured 58 runs bled from the last four overs of the innings, with Pollard smashing sixes off the last three balls of the final over bowled by Jacobs, which cost 20.
All told, Pollard lashed one four and five sixes.
Guyana had a lame start to their run chase as the left-handed Trevon Griffith skied to Perkins at cover to fall for one at seven for one in the third over.
Chanderpaul and Derwin Christian (9) rebuilt by adding 36 off 31 balls for the second wicket but the partnership proved sluggish as the hosts’ bowlers kept a lid on scoring.
Christian’s miserable 13-ball stay at the crease ended when he nudged a return catch to medium pacer Reyad Emrit (2-18) and the pressure also got to Ramnaresh Sarwan who missed a wild slog at Emrit and was bowled for two at 53 for three in the tenth over.
Chanderpaul, who faced 50 balls and struck eight fours, found an ally in Deonarine (14) in a 34-run fourth wicket partnership but the stand was another pedantic one, consuming 32 balls.
This time, it was Chanderpaul who collapsed under the burden of the quickly expanding required run rate as he squirted off-spinner Sunil Narine to Kevon Cooper at point in the 15th over.
His departure signalled the end for Guyana, leaving the dismissals of Christopher Barnwell and Deonarine in the space of three balls with the score on 88 as mere window dressing, with the result already a foregone conclusion. (CMC)
