Inaugural Caribbean T20: Mid-Tournament Review
The Caribbean T20 Cup began last week and with eight games completed, it is at the half-way stage. There were quite a few scares for some of the teams that were supposed to come in and dominate, but by and large there were no major upsets.
Zone A:
The inaugural match between Trinidad & Tobago and Canada was a low key affair with the Canadians being no match to their opponents. An inexperienced Canada were bundled out for a below-par score and never really stood a chance against some fine bowling performances displayed by T&T. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Adrian-Barath-c42094 top scored with 66 in a low scoring game as the side cruised to an easy win.
In their second game against the Leeward Islands, T&T were given a tough fight by the minnows before Kieron Pollard came in and put away the game with a splendid innings of 53 from 20 balls, which included seven hits over the fence. What was even more spectacular was the timing of his innings. He came in when T&T were struggling after their top order had already collapsed and he pulled it off in style.
The match between Jamaica and Leeward Islands had a similar story written all over it. Leeward Islands scored a measly 124, thanks to Jamaica's http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Krishmar-Santokie-c71724 who was denied a hat-trick but ended up being the scourge of the opposition batting. Later, Xavier Marshall steered the Jamaicans to a nine-wicket win with a fine half-century.
Jamaica stormed to their second-consecutive nine-wicket win over http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Marshall-c74817, who scored another half-century, made a mockery of the score, to take his team to an easy victory.
Zone B:
In the first playoff in Zone-B, the experienced team of Guyana was held to ‘ransom’ by the Windward Islands in a nail-biting finish. Ramnaresh Sarwan-led Guyana surely weren’t expecting such a start, as they are being considered as strong contenders to win this tournament. Windward Islands, an underdog, sprung up with quite a good performance even after their best player Darren Sammy limped out of the match. Guyana was pulled out of despair by the debutant Jonathan Foo, who bludgeoned 20 runs in the 18th over in their successful chase. Opener Travis Dowlin of Guyana set up the chase with a composed half century at the start.
In their second encounter, Guyana clinched a second straight hard-fought victory over a spirited Combined Colleges and Campuses team. They had struggled halfway through their chase, after they lost three batsmen in quick succession but managed to win the match in the end. Earlier Floyd Riefer’s 49 gave CCC a fighting total to defend, as off-spinner Lennox Cush of Guyana took a hat-trick in the final over. With the help of another cameo by Foo, Guyana successfully chased their target. Christopher Barnel of Guyana contributed with, both, the bat and ball in a fine all-round performance. Thus Guyana, thanks to this win, assured themselves of a semifinal spot.
The most dramatic game of the tournament was played between the Barbados and CCC. It had all the drama and excitement one could expect of a T20 game. The end to the game was as confusing and thrilling as it could get. Both teams were tied at the end of 20 overs and to everyone’s surprise were tied on 16 at the end of the eliminator. Dwayne Smith of Barbados hit a six of the last ball which tied the one-over eliminator. The end result was that Barbados won the game from having scored more boundaries in the match- a first in any form of T20 game! All credit went to Ryan Wiggins of CCC for his splendid batting display that eventually tied the game and paved way for the one over eliminator.
In their second encounter, Barbados notched up an easy win against Windward Islands. They successfully defended their competitive total, thanks to an impressive bowling performance by Javon Searles that sealed the fate of Windward Islands in the tournament.
The Road Ahead:
Looking at the points table, in the Zone A, Jamaica and T&T sit comfortably at the top, as was expected at the start of the tournament. T&T have been the most consistent T20 side in the Caribbean and won the previous edition of the T20 Cup in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Stanford-c90880 T20 finals (in 2006 & 2008). On the other hand, Jamaica have loads of experience with the likes of Gayle and Marlon Samuels in their side.
In Zone B, Barbados and Guyana fill the top two slots, and have guaranteed their place in the semifinals. Guyana have found an exciting new talent in Foo, who has been a great finisher for them.
Barbados have to get their act together before it gets too late. They have never reached a final of a T20 event before. But they did perform during crunch time in their match against the CCC and might spring up a surprise or two in an unpredictable format like T20.
The rest of the sides have made up the numbers and though there were one or two close games, the semi-finals will be contested by Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.
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