?Dwayne Bravo struck an unbeaten 58 from 34 balls, as T&T reached the Final of the Champions League Twenty/20 yesterday, when they completed a seven-wicket victory over the Cape Cobras of South Africa in Hyderabad, India. The West Indies all-rounder hit four fours and three sixes in his knock, as the Calypso Warriors, chasing 176 for victory from their allocation of 20 overs, reached their target with four balls to spare in the second semifinal at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. Bravo formalised the victory, when he swung the second ball of the final over from Rory Kleinveldt through mid-wicket for his last four, after he and T&T captain Daren Ganga put on 93 � unbroken � for the fourth wicket. Ganga got 44 not out from 31 balls, and the result meant that his side will face New South Wales Blues in the Final on Friday at the same venue for a chance to win US$2.5 million.
T&T's dream run in the competition looked under threat, after Jean-Paul Duminy hit four fours and three sixes in an 61 not out from 40 deliveries, and fellow South Africa international Herschelle Gibbs made 42 from 27 balls to lead the Cobras to 175 for five from their 20 overs. But Adrian Barath � in particular � and William Perkins again gave T&T a sound platform of 53 from the first five overs for the first wicket. Perkins was unnecessarily run out for 20 in the fifth over, when Barath played Kleinveldt to point, failed to respond to his fellow opener's call for a single, and both batsmen ended up at the same end, as Gibbs threw the ball to the bowler to complete the dismissal. T&T suffered another setback, when Barath was adjudged lbw to Duminy for 29 in the seventh over, but Simmons was twice fortunate that nerves seemed to overcome Cobras' Henry Davids, when he dropped him on 11 at deep mid-wicket off Claude Henderson in the eighth over, and next over, floored him on 14 at deep cover off Duminy.
But Simmons failed to make the most of his chances, and was caught at mid-wicket, when he pulled a long-hop from Justin Ontong straight into the lap of the fielder. T&T still faced a tall order. They needed 91 from 59 balls, but Bravo joined Ganga, and they made it look like a cakewalk the rest of the way, scoring freely against the steady, if not menacing Cobras attack.
Bravo had the pleasure of reaching his 50 from 31 balls in the penultimate over, when he drove Charl Langeveldt inside-out over extra cover for his third four before his last sparked celebrations. Earlier, T&T were on the back-foot early, when Gibbs � a struggler in previous matches � jumped them with typical enterprising batting.
But Sherwin Ganga and Dave Mohammed made timely strikes to remove Cobras' captain Andy Puttick and Davids for ten and seven respectively. T&T were again feeling the pressure when Duminy joined Gibbs, and they started to score freely. T&T suffered, when Gibbs survived a palpable stumping chance off Kieron Pollard which was referred to the TV umpire in the eighth over, but he was bowled in the 10th over by the same bowler to leave the Cobras 82 for three. T&T bowlers' continued to leak runs the rest of the way with the Cobras batting � led by Duminy � making the most of every opportunity, but it was still was not enough. The Final will be a replay of an earlier match in the competition, when T&T beat the Blues by four wickets in the Super Eight stage.