T&T looks to seal finals spot

T&T will be going all out to secure a spot in the finals of the Regional T20 cricket tournament, when they come up against the Windward Islands at the Beausejour Cricket Stadium in St Lucia tonight at 8 pm.

At the end of the action-packed first phase of the Caribbean T20 at Queens Park Oval, defending champions Trinidad and Tobago lead the points table. The Trinis played unbeaten at home to record three wins and a no-result due to a wash-out, and stand top of the charts with 13 points. They ended their home games with a rousing win over Guyana on Saturday night in front of a colourful and supportive capacity crowd at the historic Oval.

Under the new tournament format, the team which tops the preliminary round will advance to the Grand Final on January 20 at the picturesque Beausejour Cricket Ground. The second and third placed teams will meet in the Play-off on January 19. The winner of the Play-off will advance to the Final.

If T&T wins tonight, they would move on to 17 points. Jamaica sit in second spot on the table with nine points from four matches. The Jamaicans could also end on 17 points and even if T&T loses their final match against Barbados, they have a far superior net run rate than the Jamaicans and could end up group leaders still.

There is a three-way tie for third place with Barbados, Windwards and Guyana all on eight points. Windwards and Guyana have both played three matches while the Bajans have played four times.

Combined Campuses and Colleges are in sixth place on four points from four matches – gained from their shock win over Barbados. The Leewards have lost all four matches so far and are yet to register a point.

The T&T team is not leaving anything to chance so says manager of the team Omar Khan. “The team has settled in nicely since arriving here in St Lucia on Sunday and they are looking for a big win against the Windwards, which would more or less send them straight into the finals of the tournament on Sunday.

“We had a very intensive training session at the Gros Islet playing field today and the players looked as sharp as usual. They are all very happy with the results we have been getting and the mood in the camp is unbelievable. 

“The team is winning, the players are happy and by the grace of God everything is moving along nicely.” T&T will be without all rounder Kevon Cooper who has opted to leave for the Bangladesh Premier League. Khan says although he will be missed, the team will be okay.

“Coming over here and not having Kevon with us you felt it. The boys already seem to be missing him because he is a vital man on and off the field for us. However we saw what Rayad Emrit is capable off in the last game so we are looking ahead with the normal confidence.

“We will be playing in front of the home crowd and our players are professionals and they can handle this kind of pressure. We had a lengthy team meeting coming into this phase of the tournament and we are going to have another one tonight, where we will finalise our game plan.”

Looking at the pitch Khan said it is expected to play into the hands of the strokeplayers and this would help the T&T team. “We have a number of brilliant strokeplayers on our team and they would enjoy the ball coming on to the bat. Our batsmen are in form and this would play right into their hands.

“The bowlers would not get the kind of assistance they got in Trinidad but they are experienced in this format and they have held their own on surfaces like this.”

The word on the streets here is T20 cricket as the nation has picked up on the fever that started in Trinidad and a bumper crowd is expected at the Beausejour tonight.

Teams: 

Trinidad and Tobago: Denesh Ramdin (Captain), Darren Bravo (Vice Captain), Samuel Badree, Dwayne Bravo, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Mohammed, Sunil Narine, Yannick Ottley, Evin Lewis, William Perkins, Kieron Pollard, Ravi Rampaul, Lendl Simmons.

Windward Islands: Darren Sammy (Captain), Miles Bascombe, Tade Carmichael, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Lyndon James, Delorn Johnson, Keddy Lesporis, Garey Mathurin, Kenroy Peters, Nelon Pascal, Liam Sebastien, Shane Shillingford, Devon Smith.