Powerplay puts T&T in semis

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Hyderabad: It is said that if the Trinidadians aren’t celebrating their carnival, they are either getting ready for it or musing over the previous edition of the festival. Over the last one week, Daren Ganga and his merry men have not only brought the party to India; they have managed to got everybody involved in it as well.

Despite all three IPL teams having made hasty exits from the tournament, such has been the Trinidad and Tobago effect that Sunday night drew in a healthy crowd — though the organisers’ decision to distribute free tickets did contribute to it — and they didn’t leave the stadium without being thoroughly entertained.

The fun-filled and enthusiastic manner of their cricket may have overshadowed the amazing skills that a number of T&T players have displayed during the tournament so far. And in their final second-round encounter, that they won by 24 runs on Sunday, T&T showed that they also possess a remarkable depth of talent.

Debutants to the fore

While the two Calypso numbers that play every single time Trinidad have a moment to cheer on the field got the crowd moving to the beat, Adrian Barath and Navin Stewart — playing their first games of the tournament — had them running for cover.

Barath, playing his first ever Twenty20 match, may have started playing second fiddle to the in-form William Perkins, but ended up being the pocket-sized wrecker-in-chief against a Diamond Eagles bowling line-up. The 19-year-old opener smashed a 41-ball 63 and shared an opening stand of 66 off 40 balls with Perkins, who scored a 25-ball 35.

Lendl Simmons followed with three fours and six off his first four balls and scored a 25-ball 40 before being bowled by Ryan McLaren.

It is no secret that Indian crowds simply adore batsmen who can entertain them with a flurry of fours and sixes. And the welcome that Kieron Pollard received at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, as he walked out to bat, simply accentuated the action he has provided them with over the last week.

The giant Trinidadian hit two sixes but holed out for 23, before Stewart took centre-stage and smashed a remarkable 11-ball 33, including three huge sixes in one Dillon du Preez over, to ensure that T&T became the first team to cross the 200-run mark in the tournament here.