TnT beat Windwards by seven wickets

POINTE-A-PIERRE, Trinidad – Trinidad and Tobago, under the astute captaincy of Daren Ganga gave an inspired performance to defeat the Windward Islands by seven wickets on the third day of their seventh round Carib Beer Cricket Series match at Guaracara Park on Sunday. {{more}}

Set 182 to win after the Windward Islands had been bowled out for 67 in their second innings, Trinidad & Tobago reached 183 for three.

Leading the way for the Trinidad and Tobago victory were pacers Mervyn Dillon and Richard Kelly who combined with five wickets apiece to destroy the Windwards second innings for just 67 runs, after the visitors had established a healthy first innings lead of 114.

Dillon, playing his first match since returning from the VB Series in Australia, ended with five for 28 from 7.4 overs and Kelly, who celebrated his 21st birthday on Saturday, picked up five for 34 from eight overs. It was Kelly’s second five-wicket haul of the series.

Man-of-the-Match Kelly had set the tone for the Trinidadian triumph by removing Devon Smith and Sergio Fedee in his first over.

Set a victory target of 182 in more than five sessions, the hosts were led by solid contributions from opener Lendl Simmons whose 54 included six fours, and skipper Ganga who finished with 38 not out.

Dwayne Bravo (27), Imran Khan (26) and Ricardo Powell (24 not out) chipped in as Trinidad and Tobago romped home for the loss of just three wickets.

It was a great come-from-behind victory for the local team after they were outplayed by the Windwards in the first two days of the match. It was also sweet revenge for Ganga and his team, who lost by one wicket to the Islanders at the Arnos Vale Recreation Ground in St Vincent in the first half of the series.

Earlier, Trinidad and Tobago resumed their first innings on 219 for eight in pursuit of 346, and added 13 runs for the remaining two wickets. Denesh Ramdin went on to become joint top scorer with Simmons with 43.

Skipper Rawl Lewis ended with figures of four for 49 while debutant pacer Jean Paul took four for 52.

The Windwards started their reply with an important lead of 114 runs, but Dillon and Kelly combined to tear their batting apart and send the innings into chaos. None of the batsmen offered resistance to the two-pronged bowling attack and folded for a meagre 67 just before lunch. Allrounder Darren Sammy was the topscorer with 15.