T&T – Getting Better In Every Game So Far in Champions League
Colin E.H. Croft
19 October 2009

I said it in the 2nd article of this series. Trinidad & Tobago can go all the way! Now, they probably would, and to be honest, they would have to play very badly, or their opponents play very well indeed, for them not to get to the final. They certainly are getting better.

By winning its 4th game, by 24 runs, to remain unbeaten in the Champions League, thus qualifying for the semi-finals, everyone in the region, especially these days, in Trinidad & Tobago, now expects that its team would go all the way to the final, and win that too, even as they would have already exceeded all expectations. Few, even here in the Caribbean, gave then a chance.

This is highly ironic, since the team could not find any sponsorship at home, and is being sponsored by a chicken company in India. Indeed, had it not been for the efforts of football supremo, Austin “Jack” Warner, the team’s captain, Daren Ganga, probably would not have been in India at all.

Warner had to intervene, and to notify both the Ministers of Sports, and of Energy, the direct line Minister, that the captain was finding it very difficult to get time off from his normal place of employment; the state-owned Petrotrin Oil Company, to go to the competition.

The Company’s Communications Manager is quoted as suggesting that Ganga had had too much time off to play cricket already; this for a guy who actually works in the company’s Public Relations department. As Ganga himself put it after Game 3, there is so much “crap” in West Indies cricket. Boy, is he correct! There are simply too many square pegs in round holes! Where do they get these people from anyway?

Trinidad & Tobago are definitely on an upward curve. They certainly looked an even better batting unit in this 4th game, a unit that could interchange with its reserves to get the best overall result. The strength of any team’s reserves is always a good indication of how strong that team is. Trinidad and Tobago are certainly proving to be excellent.

“Man of the Match” Adrian Barath, who is just 19, and who was making his T-20 debut; opening the batting, a pugnacious batsman who reminds many of the Indian master batsman Sunil Gavaskar, flashed 63 in only 41 deliveries, including 4 fours and 4 sixes, as he and William Perkins, who made a quick-fire 35, put the Eagles bowling to the sword, putting on 66 for the 1st wicket in only 6.4 overs.

Barath had been included as Darren Bravo was out, with an injury. To that point, Barath and Perkins had put on the fastest fifty in the competition; 53-0 in five overs. They also put on the highest score in the power-play; 64-0 in 6 overs, certainly a tremendous platform for a massive score.

The carnage continued with Lendyl Simmons making 40; Nevin Stewart, another replacement, in for Samuel Badree, blazing 33 in only 11, including 3 fours and 3 sixes, and Keiron Pollard, who also got 23, from only 13 deliveries, being the principal contributors, as Trinidad & Tobago eventually got to 213-4, the highest total so far in the Champions League.

What was impressive in the T&T effort was that each batsman had a Strike Rate, or Run Per Over average, of much higher than 100%, with the lowest, Perkins, being at a SR of 140.0, while the highest was Stewart, whose scored at 300.00. That type of consistency, and each batsman making more than 20, would always put a team close to 200 in a T-20 game, unless they are bowled out. Here T&T might even have outdone themselves, even if 200 runs in 20 overs is perhaps the bench mark to aim for. No-one thinks that they have peaked yet.

The Eagles did make an effort, as they had to win in 14.2 overs, if they were to qualify for the semi-finals, and after 4 overs, they were 54-1. Openers Morne Van Wyk and Riley Rousseau were similarly murderous, putting on an even quicker fifty than T&T had done, managing 54-1 in the 4th over. They also eclipsed Trinidad & Tobago in the power-play overs; 77-2. These guys were sure that they will not go down without a fight.

While they continued with consistency, it would have been very difficult indeed to continue at that rate and they eventually fell well short. The promising 20 year old, Riley Rousseau made 44, Dillon Du Preez made 35 and Botha Dippenaar an enterprising 33, but T&T’s total was just too massive for the boys from South Africa to cope with.

Considering that the Eagles had, like Trinidad & Tobago, been rank outsiders to do anything special in this competition, they too should be proud of their efforts to get to a quarter final. They certainly had given it their best shot.

Eventually, the Eagles could only muster 189-5, but in their full 20 overs. T&T’s bowling did have some room to play with Sherwin Ganga; 2-25 from three overs, Dave Mohammed; 0-14 from two overs and Pollard; 2-25 from three overs, being the better bowlers on the day.

Perhaps the last word should go to Adrian Barath: “This is my first international game and my best Twenty 20 innings. We set it up nicely in the middle for Stewart and Pollard in the end. Brian Lara had a lot of belief in me and he helps me a lot along the way. After this performance, hopefully we could go all the way now and we should propel into to final.”

It is now on to the semi-final; perhaps the final, for Trinidad & Tobago, later this week!

Crofty - 19 October 2009