CLT20 2013: Trinidad and Tobago prevail in low-scoring encounter against Brisbane Heat

Trinidad and Tobago bowlers' disciplined display on the field helped them emerge on top in a low-scoring affair against the Brisbane Heat in the first Group B match at Ranchi. Ravi Rampaul's (four for 14) menacing line and length and the mystery spin bowling by the duo of Sunil Narine (two for 25) and Samuel Badree did the trick for the West Indian outfit as the Brisbane Heat were bowled out for 110, 25 runs short of the target

Trinidad and Tobago skittled out Brisbane Heat for 110 to register a 25-run victory © Getty Images (File Photo)

By Prakash Govindasreenivasan

Sep 22, 2013

Trinidad and Tobago bowlers’ disciplined display on the field helped them emerge on top in a low-scoring affair against the Brisbane Heat in the first Group B match of the Champions League T20 2013 at Ranchi. Ravi Rampaul‘s (four for 14) menacing line and length and the mystery spin bowling by the duo of Sunil Narine (two for 25) and Samuel Badree did the trick for the West Indian outfit as the Brisbane Heat were bowled out for 110, 25 runs short of the target. This win puts Trinidad and Tobago on top of the points table of Group B.

Chasing a modest total of 136, the Brisbane Heat had a nervy start as they lost skipper James Hopes  in the third over when he played on a length delivery from Ravi Rampaul that moved in after pitching. Both Rampaul and Samuel Badree started well as they offered very little room for the batsmen to go after them. Badree had enough protection on the off-side and bowled full outside the off-stump to test the resolve of the Brisbane batsmen. His ploy enabled him to keep the runs down and he eventually struck in his last over to remove Peter Forrest.

The wicket came off an ordinary delivery that was pitched shot, with Forrest cutting the ball straight to Sherwin Ganga at point. With just one ball to go in his spell, the players were forced to walk off the field as there was a technical glitch with the flood lights. Play resumed in 15 minutes and Badree finished his splendid spell with figures of one for 16.

With the batsmen on the back foot, Ramdin introduced more spin through Sherwin Ganga in the 10th over.  At the half-way stage, the Heat were struggling at 47 for two, still needing 89 runs to get from the remaining 60 deliveries.

Joe Burns and Daniel Christian had an uphill task on hand and Ramdin added further problems by bringing in his first-choice spinner Sunil Narine into the attack.  In just his first two deliveries, Narine displayed enough variation to confuse the batsmen. However, Burns took the onus of acceleration upon himself and slammed a six off Ganga in the 12th over. He then went after Narine in his second over and picked up the second six of his innings off a full length delivery. He attempted the same shot of the very next delivery, only for Simmons to put in an extraordinary effort to jump high up and pull the ball inside the rope to save four crucial runs. Yet, 12 runs came off the over to give Heat some breathing space.

Ramdin then threw the ball to Rayad Ermit for a second spell and the latter struck to give his side a vital breakthrough. Christian tried to play across the line to a full delivery that had a hint of in-swing and missed it completely. The ball crashed onto the stumps to reduce the Brisbane Heat to 77 for three in the 14th over.

Narine’s double strike in the following over put Brisbane Heat‘s chances in jeopardy. He first removed Chris Lynn with a carrom ball that the batsman failed to read and committed forward to edge the ball to the wicketkeeper. Burns could only watch from the other end as Narine then bamboozled Chris Hartley to send half the Brisbane side back to the hut. They were reduced to 85 for five from 15 overs, needing 51 runs from the last five overs.

Ramdin straightaway brought back Rampaul in a bid to up the asking rate beyond the batting side’s reach. Rampaul was hit for a boundary by Burns who was still hopeful of taking his side through. His hopes were soon quashed by an incredible length delivery that swung into the right hander and managed to break the leg stump in two halves. It was too quick for Burns to move his feet and put something behind the ball. He fell for a valiant 45. Alongwith the wicket, Rampaul did well to concede just six runs. Narine then bowled his final over and finished with figures of two for 25.

With 40 to get from three overs, Ben Cutting refused to give up as he went after Emrit by scoring a boundary off his first delivery in the 18th over. Chris Sabburg too tried to join the party but in vain as he failed to clear the long-on fielder and was dismissed off the third ball. During the course of that wicket, the batsmen crossed which brought Cutting back on strike. He was still not ready to give up and hit a big six over long on. The eventful over ended with a bizarre mix up and the run out of Cutting that all but ended Brisbane’s hopes.

Rampaul finished the formalites by picking up the last two wickets to bowl out the opposition for 110.

Read first innings report here

Brief scores:

Trinidad and Tobago 135 for 9 in 20 overs (Denesh Ramdin 48; Alister McDermott 4 for 37) beat Brisbane Heat 110 in 18.4 overs ( Joe Burns 45; Ravi Rampaul 4 for 14, Sunil Narine 2 for 25) by 25 runs.

Man of the Match: Denesh Ramdin

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