PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – West Indies opener Lendl Simmons put an ordinary tour of Bangladesh behind him to stroke an aggressive half-century in the North/South Twenty20 Classic at Queen’s Park Oval here on Thursday.
The right-hander slammed 58 from 50 balls to help propel North to a 68-run victory over South. The series is a warm-up for next month’s Caribbean Twenty20.
He put on a rollicking 123 for the first wicket with William Perkins whose top score of 71 came from 42 balls and included six fours and four sixes.
Simmons struck a four and four sixes before falling in the 17th over off off-spinner Ansil Bhaggan. His form will pleasing for Trinidad and Tobago ahead of the CT20, especially after gathering just 40 runs in three innings on the Bangladesh tour.
Stylish West Indies left-hander Darren Bravo chipped in with a cameo 26 from 15 balls while all-rounder Navin Stewart hammered 20 runs from five balls with a four and two sixes.
In reply, South could only muster 131 for six with Kjorn Ottley hitting 26 from 30 balls and West Indies wicketkeeper and national captain Denesh Ramdin getting 24 from 23 balls.
T&T will defend their regional T20 title during the January 6-20 tournament, scheduled for Queen’s Park Oval here and Beausejour Cricket Stadium in St Lucia.