Narine stars on return as Leewards fall
Shawpark, Tobago — Captain Dwayne Bravo and former captain Denish Ramdeen choreographed a middle innings revival to compliment destructive bowling from Ravi Rampaul and Sunil Narine as Trinidad and Tobago rebounded with a vengeance to crush Leeward Islands by five wickets in the NAGICO Super50 match at Shaw Park here on Wednesday.
Bravo and Ramdeen staged a 65 run fourth wicket stand to swing the home side back on course after slumping to 75 for four, chasing a winning target of 141 set by the Leewards.
Narine grabbed four wickets for 17 runs and Rampaul four for 20 to bowl out the Leewards for 140 after they had won the toss and elected to bat.
Trinidad, desperate for their first victory since losing by 28 runs to Barbados in their opening game, suffered an early setback, losing opener Adrian Barath in the first over.
Lendl Simmons attempted to steady the slide scoring 25 while three wickets fell before 100 runs came up as Leewards tried to pile on the pressure.
But the Trinidadians recovered when Bravo hit three sixes and four fours in a top score of 42 from 37 balls, Ramdeen was unbeaten on 22 while Dwayne’s brother Darren contributed the same score.
Gavin Tonge topped the Leewards bowling with three for 38 as his side crumbled to their second straight loss.
Earlier, Rampaul removed the openers and Narine, who was named man-of-the-match, carved through the middle order severely restricting the Leewards run flow.
The visitors were in trouble at 46 for four before a 67 run partnership for the 5th wicket between Devon Thomas and Jahmar Hamilton added some respectability to the total.
Thomas scored two sixes in a top score of 42 while Hamilton chipped in with 39.
Summarized Scores:
Leeward Islands Innings: 140 All Out (43.2 Overs). Devon Thomas 42, Jahmar Hamilton 39, Montcin Hodge 15, Rahkeem Cornwall 14; Sunil Narine 9.2-3-1-17-4, Ravi Rampaul 9-3-20-4, Rayad Emrit 7-0-19-1, Yannick Ottley 6-0-30-1.
Trinidad & Tobago Innings: 144/5 (27.1 Overs). Dwayne Bravo 42, Lendl Simmons 25, Denesh Ramdin 22, Darren Bravo 22; Gavin Tonge 8-2-38-3, Justin Athanaze 6-1-30-2, Anthony Martin 5-0-22-0, Quinton Boatswain 6.1-1-35-0.