Ottley stars in T20 trials

Yannick Ottley put in a fine all round performance as the first national trial match to select the T&T T20 team ended in a tie at the Caldrac cricket ground in California yesterday. Ottley, the former West Indies under-19 player, slammed an unbeaten 50 in Rayad Emrit’s XI score of 147 for five off 20 overs. He then grabbed two wickets, as the Samuel Badree XI replied with 147 all out off 20 overs. Winning the toss and batting first Emrit’s team got useful contributions from Ottley who got his runs from 28 balls with three fours and four sixes. Fellow all rounder Sherwin Ganga was also in good touch, as he counted an unbeaten 34 off 19 balls with four fours and a six.

 

The two added an unbroken 75 runs for the sixth wicket off 6.2 overs. The pick of the bowlers for Badree’s team was the skipper himself with 2/19 and Teshawn Castro 2/28. In reply, Badree’s team lost wickets regularly and this affected their chances of overhauling the target. Badree played a big hand in the game ending in a tie, as he hammered an unbeaten 24 off 14 balls with three sixes. Openers William Perkins 29 off 17 balls with three sixes and Evin Lewis 26 off 12 balls with three sixes also, took a liking to the opposition bowlers. Ottley took 2/28, while Mervyn Dillon continues to stake a claim for a recall with 2/25. Manager of the team Omar Khan said they decided against a one-over eliminator because it was a trial match and winning was not an issue. The second match will be played today at the National Cricket Centre (NCC) in Balmain, Couva, starting at 1.30 pm.