National cricket captain Daren Ganga believes his team will benefit from the close match against Canada, which T&T won off the last ball in the regional T20 cricket tournament in Barbados on Saturday.
T&T will meet English champions Hampshire today at 4pm at Kensington Oval as the only unbeaten team in the tournament and a win will propel Ganga's team into the semi-finals. Speaking at the Bank ground yesterday, Ganga described the match against Canada as a close one and pointed out it left his players more aware of what is needed to continue winning.
Ganga was there at the end and scored the two runs needed off the final ball to steal a five-wicket win for T&T. "Sometimes we take things for granted and teams for granted and it nearly cost us the last game. We need to get back on track and re-focus at this time. We have to set different targets and goals in Barbados because the pitch is going to play differently. Batting should be a lot easier because the ball would come on to the bat, so we need to revise our plan accordingly." The national team's preparation for today's clash was hampered by rain yesterday, as the players could not train at the Banks ground.
Manager Omar Khan said weather conditions have been unpredictable and could play a part in today's outcome.
"We could not get in the time we wanted in the middle, however the guys are ready and keen to keep on winning. The last game was close but that is now in the past and the players would be going all out to defeat the English champions. A win will take us into the semis, so they know how important those four points are. They would not want it to go down to the last game, needing to beat the home team Barbados to get through."
T&T team
Daren Ganga (Captain), Lendl Simmons, Runako Morton, Darren Bravo, Adrian Barath, Imran Khan, Sherwin Ganga, Denesh Ramdin, Sunil Narine, Kevon Cooper, Ravi Rampaul, Samuel Badree, Jason Mohammed, Richard Kelly. Kelvin Williams (Coach), Omar Khan (Manager), Ronald Rogers (Physiotherapist), Sheldon Sewnarine (Equipment manager).