BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Trinidad and Tobago will return to the lucrative Airtel Champions League Twenty20 this year, after trouncing a docile Jamaica in the semi-finals of the Caribbean T20 Championship on Saturday.
They used miserly bowling to strangle Jamaica, reducing one of the pre-tournament favourites to an unflattering 136 for nine in the second semi-final at Kensington Oval.
Opener Lendl Simmons then stroked his third half-century of the tournament as Trinidad and Tobago’s batting juggernaut marched unbothered to their target, reaching 140 for two to complete a dominant eight-wicket win.
With Hampshire not eligible for qualification to the CLT20 from the CT20, T&T’s berth in the final means they will represent the Caribbean at the third edition of the CLT20 later this year.
They were the find of the inaugural tournament in 2009 when they played unbeaten to reach the final before losing to New South Wales.
No doubt spurred on by that memory and the disappointment in last year’s CT20 where they lost at the semi-final sage, T&T swiftly took control of the contest after losing the toss and being asked to field.
Their varied attack was incisive and thrifty and quickly had Jamaica cornered at 44 for four in the 12th over, with most of the top order removed cheaply.
Out-of-form opener Xavier Marshall was trapped lbw for five at 12 for one in the third over, setting the stage for the carnage that followed.
Marlon Samuels, who struck a four and a six in scoring 14 from 20 balls, added a painstaking 23 from 33 balls for the second wicket with opener Shawn Findlay, before misreading one that straightened from off-spinner Sunil Narine (2-21) and being bowled.
Danza Hyatt popped a tame return catch to Narine two balls later to depart without scoring and Findlay’s misery in compiling 16 from 27 balls was ended when he was bowled by pacer Kevon Cooper, trying to break free of his shackles.
Jamaica’s resistance came through Andre Russell and captain Wavell Hinds, who posted 39 for the fifth wicket.
Russell, the latest West Indies recruit, blasted a top score of 36 from 17 balls with two fours and three sixes while Hinds garnered a patient 23 from 24 balls with three boundaries.
Both fell in quick succession, however, as Hinds skied a catch to Simmons at midwicket in the 16th over off fast bowler Ravi Rampaul (2-30) and Russell followed in the next over, caught in the deep off off-spinner Sherwin Ganga at 98 for six.
It signalled the end of any serious resistance as Jamaica scrambled what they could to eke out precious runs at the end.
With no need for haste, T&T exchanged their usual frenzied start for discretion as Simmons (51) and Adrian Barath (37) added a relatively sedate 69 from 64 balls, denying Jamaica any early success.
Continuing the rich form that has brought him 218 runs in the tournament, the right-handed Simmons counted two fours and four sixes off 49 balls while Barath hammered three fours and a six in an innings requiring 34 balls.
Jamaica’s only real look in came when Samuels ran out Barath with a direct throw as the batsman backed up too far at 69 for one in the 11th over, but it proved T&T’s only blip.
Darren Bravo entered to stroke an unbeaten 25 from 19 balls, posting another 59 from 33 balls for the second wicket with Simmons to kill off any ideas Jamaica had of a comeback.
