T&T win, still alive in CLT20

Ahmedabad, Sep 30 (IANS) Trinidad and Tobago kept their chances alive in the Champions League Twenty20 as they won their Group B match against the Titans by six runs (D/L method) at the Sardar Patel Stadium at Motera here Monday.

Chasing Trinidad and Tobago’s 188/6, the Titans were 153/6 in 17 overs when the skies opened up and rains marred the match, leading to a Duckworth-Lewis decision to decide its fate. Overall, the Titans fell short by six runs.

Both the teams now have eight points, though Titans have played out all four matches while the Caribbean side still have a match to go. T&T have a chance to enter the semifinals while Titans’ chances depend on the match between Chennai Super Kings and T&T.

Put into bat, T&T had a poor start as opener Lendl Simmons was bowled by Marchant de Lange for a duck. But man of the match Evin Lewis (70) and Darren Bravo (63) put the team’s innings back on track by striking a 109-run second wicket partnership.

Lewis thrashed the Titans bowlers, hitting seven boundaries and five sixes in his 35-ball knock while Bravo hit five fours and four sixes.

After the duo got out, the Titans bowlers did well to not allow another big partnership as the Caribbean side settled down for 188/6 from their quota of 20 overs. De Lange provided three breakthroughs while Morne Morkel, Henry Davids and Roelof van de Merwe took a wicket each.

In response, Titans’ opening batsman and captain Davids (42) and Jacques Rudoph (31) put the team in a good position at 65 for no loss in the seventh over. But a good spell of bowling from the Caribbean bowlers help clinch wickets at regular intervals, bringing down the run rate.

Simmons and Sunil Narine were effective, taking two wickets each.

Just when the match was looking poised for a thrilling finish with the Titans at 153/6 from 17 overs, it started raining heavily halting the match and letting the D/L method deciding the fate of the match in favour of Trinidad and Tobago.

Brief scores: Trinidad and Tobago 188/6 in 20 overs (Evin Lewis 70, Darren Bravo 63) beat Titans 153/6 in 17 overs (Henry Davids 42) by six runs (D/L method).