TTCB – Results

T&T "A" team giantkillers in T20
December 30, 2010

By ZAID MOHAMMED
Press Officer
T&T Cricket Board

TRINIDAD and Tobago’s senior cricket team suffered a humiliating three-wicket defeat on Wednesday against T&T "A" on the second day of the T20 Cricket Festival staged at Guaracara Park in Pointe-a-Pierre.

The second straight upset victory by the "A" team --- they upstaged Guyana on Tuesday --- put a serious dent on the preparations of the national senior team for the upcoming Caribbean T20 which gets underway in Antigua/Barbuda on January 9.

Comprising players who did not make the cut for the first regional competition of the 2011 season, the "A" team was inspired by their captain Rayad Emrit who snatched three wickets for 25 runs and then hit a valuable 28 runs as they overhauled the senior team’s 109 for eight.

And this was after the "A" team was set a revised target of 110 to get in 18 overs after being penalised for exceeding their time by 18 minutes for bowling their 20 overs.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, the senior cricketers struggled against the "A" team quickies Shannon Gabriel and Navin Stewart who extracted pace and bounce on the Guaracara Park strip.

Top players Lendl Simmons, Adrian Barath and Darren Bravo failed to display the technique and application needed to build an innings of any significance and were joined by skipper Daren Ganga in the Players’ Pavilion at the half-way stage and with not yet 50 runs on the board.

It was left to Jason Mohammed who topscored with an undefeated 31 and wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin to stabilise the TT senior team’s innings but it was always going to be difficult for their bowlers to defend a paltry total.

Amit Jaggernauth, bowling with guile and accuracy showed he is still one of the best spinners around with three wickets for 19 runs in his four overs while the impressive Gabriel and Stewart took one apiece.

The "A" team declared their intent to aggressively go after the victory target by partnering opener Elvin Lewis with Test star Dwayne Bravo but this strategy backfired as both were sent back early, along Justin Guillen who again failed to get among the runs.

But Tishan Maraj, back in the national setup after completing his medical studies showed character and maturity in compiling a top score of 35 and shared in two valuable partnerships with Leron Lezama (19) and Emrit (28) to take his team within a whisker of the memorable victory.

Maraj first added 42 with Lezama and then 37 with Emrit who was particularly harsh on national bowler Richard Kelly carting him to the boundary ropes for four fours in the 12th over which set the tempo for the eventual victory charge.

Badree, Cooper and Sherwin Ganga took two wickets each but their effort fell short in the end as the "A" showed that their players remain serious viable alternatives going into the 2011 regional cricket season.

GUARACARA SCOREBOARD

T&T SENIORS VS T&T ACADEMY

T&T Seniors Innings  

L Simmons c wkp G Mohammed b Stewart*6

A Barath c Lewis b Jaggernauth*11

D Bravo b Gabriel*2

D Ganga stp wkp G Mohammed b Jaggernauth*13

I Khan c Bravo b Jaggernauth*6

J Mohammed not out*31

D Ramdin c wkp G Mohammed b Emrit*15

R Kelly b Emrit*4

K Cooper c Stewart b Emrit*0

S Ganga not out*10

EXTRAS (B1, LB5, W5)*11

TOTAL (For eight wkts)*109

Fall of wickets: 9 (Simmons); 10 (Bravo); 41 (D Ganga); 43 (Barath); 55 (Khan); 80 (Ramdin); 89 (Kelly); 89 (Cooper)

BOWLING: S Gabriel 4-0-17-0; N Stewart 4-0-22-1; D Bravo 4-0-20-0; A Jaggernauth 4-0-19-3; R Emrit 4-0-25-3

T&T Academy Innings

D Bravo b Cooper*2

E Lewis c wkp Ramdin b Badree*6

T Maraj LBW S Ganga*35

J Guillen c D Ganga b Cooper*0

L Lezama c J Mohammed b Kelly*19

R Emrit b Badree*28

G Mohammed c wkp Ramdin b S Ganga*2

N Stewart not out*0

D Mohammed not out*1

EXTRAS (LB7, W10)*17

TOTAL  (For 7 wks)*110

Fall of wkts: 8 (Bravo); 12 (Lewis); 13 (Guillen); 55 (Lezama); 92 (Maraj); 103 (G Mohammed); 110 (Emrit)

BOWLING: S Badree 3.5-0-16-2 ; K Cooper 4-0-15-2; S Ganga 3-0-21-2; R Kelly 3-0-24-1; L Simmons 1-0-14-0; I Khan 1-0-13-0

Result: T&T "A" team won by three wickets with 17 balls to spare