Ramdin: T&T not good enough

Wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin said yesterday the early let off when Barbadian batsman Dwayne Smith was dropped may have cost T&T the Nagico Super50 series title on Saturday night.

Speaking after T&T fell 17 runs short of the victory chase of 253, Ramdin noted that ‘catches win matches.’ He said after Smith was put down, it was hard for the members of the Red Force to pick themselves up. “We made a good effort in the end but it was not good enough.”

Ramdin who topscored for T&T with 68, said the Red Force lost the match in the middle overs. “We needed someone at the top to bat through and hold it together, but it never happened. I tried to bat it out, but could not do it for the team. The Bajans out played us and I thought they got 20 runs too much. “

Ramdin said the members of the team were grateful for the crowd support and disappointed at not giving them the title. “The people came out in their numbers, they saw a good game but in the end they would have wanted a win, and we are unhappy that we could not give them what they wanted.”

Smith punished T&T after being put down by Evin Lewis when he was 22. 

Lewis, posted on the square leg boundary, saw the ‘white missile’ fly into and out of his hands and from that point the T&T players looked flat and could never regain that Red Force spirit.

Smith blasted 83 to lead Barbados to 252 all out and T&T responded with 235 all out off 45.5 overs–losing by 17 runs. 

T&T team lost wickets regularly after a chancy opening stand of 57 between Lewis and Lendl Simmons. The local boys egged on by their vocal supporters could not forge meaningful partnerships after that and never seriously challenged.

Ramdin was excellent though, and he rallied the lower order with his pugnacious 68. He faced 76 balls hitting six fours and two sixes. After him the last standing pair of Rayad Emrit and Ravi Rampaul brought the home team back into the game with a partnership of 27. The two entertained the crowd with some power hits. However, Emrit fell short of an attempted third run after Fidel Edwards prevented a boundary. Emrit made 27 and Rampaul remained unbeaten on nine as Barbados claimed their first victory against T&T in 50-overs cricket since 1977 and their sixth regional limited overs title.

Players from both teams picked up most of the outstanding performances awards of the tournament. Smith was the leading batsman; Emrit was the top bowler; Tamar Lambert of Jamaica, the best allrounder; Trinidad & Tobago’s Evin Lewis ironically got the best fielder and Ramdin took the award for the best wicketkeeper.

Earlier, Smith silenced the fans with his brutal hitting, as he blasted everything out of sight after Barbados won the toss and decided to take first strike.

He and the obdurate Kraigg Brathwaite posted 127 runs for the first wicket in 22.3 overs before being parted. In the process they beat the best opening stand for Barbados against T&T in limited overs cricket. The previous best was 102 between Dale Richards and Patrick Browne.

The crowd was very quiet for the most part and every good piece of fielding was met with deafening noise, as that was all they had to celebrate.

Part timer Lendl Simmons gave them their first real cheer as he sent back Brathwaite for 36 made off 63 balls with three fours. He followed with the ‘big fish’ Smith and from that point it was all T&T. Smith’s attractive innings spanned 77 balls. He struck 10 fours and two sixes. 

At the fall of his wicket with the score 132 the next best Barbados bat Jonathan Carter arrived to continue the good work. An excellent worker of the ball, the left hander progressed to 49 without any fanfare, before he fell leg before to Sunil Narine. 

Scoreboard  

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SCOREBOARD 

T&T vs BARBADOS

Barbados inns
D Smith c DJ Bravo b Simmons    83
K Brathwaite c Ramdin 
b Simmons    36
J Carter lbw Narine    49
K Stoute b Cooper    15
C Brathwaite b Cooper    9
K Williams c & b Ottley    1
S Dowrich lbw Cooper    1
A Nurse b Rampaul    11
J Holder lbw Narine    5
S Benn not out    22
F Edwards b Cooper    1
Extras: 7lb, 11w, 1nb    19
Total all out    252
Fall of wkts: 127, 132, 195, 206, 207, 210, 210, 218, 241, 252.  
Bowling: D Bravo 5-0-40-0, R Rampaul 6-0-25-1, R Emrit 5-0-41-0, S Narine 10-2-18-2, K Cooper 9.4-0-62-4, Y Ottley 4-0-18-1, L Simmons 5-0-23-2, J Mohammed 4-0-18-0.
 
T&T inns
Lendl Simmons b C Brathwaite    19
Evin Lewis c Edwards b Holder    27
Yannick Ottley c Smith b Holder    0
Darren Bravo c Nurse b Benn    17
Dwayne Bravo c Stoute b 
C Brathwaite    6
Jason Mohammed c Dowrich 
b Benn    26
Denesh Ramdin+ lbw b Smith    68
Sunil Narine c Smith b 
C Brathwaite    0
Kevon Cooper lbw b C Brathwaite    9
Rayad Emrit run out    27
Ravi Rampaul not out    9
Extras: (lb 9, w 15, nb 3)    27
Total (10 wkts; 45.5 overs)    235
Fall of wickets: 1-57, 2-62, 3-67, 4-75, 5-94, 6-142, 7-143, 8-160, 9-208, 10-235
Bowling: Fidel Edwards 9-0-62-0 (1nb, 8w), Jason Holder 8-0-30-2 (1nb, 4w), Dwayne Smith 3.5-0-35-1 (1nb, 1w), Carlos Brathwaite 10-1-41-4, Sulieman Benn 9-0-29-2, Ashley Nurse 6-0-29-0 (1w)
Result: Barbados won by 17 runs
Man of the match: Dwayne Smith (Barbados)
Umpires: Lennox Abraham, Nigel Duguid
TV Umpire: Patrick Gustard
Fourth Official: Leslie Reifer
Match Referee: Hayden Bruce