B’dos to a T

SOUTH AFRICA, here we come.That would have been the cry from Barbados’ cricketers last night after storming into the final of the Caribbean Twenty20 tournament with an efficient six-wicket semi-final win over Jamaica at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad.Their opponents in the 8 p.m. showdown today at the same venue will be Guyana, who stunned hosts Trinidad and Tobago by winning a remarkable high-scoring match by four runs a few hours earlier.Barbados and Guyana were probably installed as underdogs ahead of the semi-finals, but both teams got it together when it mattered most to set up a finale in which the prize is US$25,000 and a ticket to South Africa for the lucrative Airtel Champions League in September.Barbados, who won with seven balls to spare at 11:45 p.m., survived a superb onslaught from Danza Hyatt in a belligerent 89 off 50 balls that included a regional record eight sixes to keep Jamaica down to a total of 153 for nine.The chase was launched in a typically stroke-filled 40 off 21 balls by Dale Richards, and despite a slight stutter after he departed at 57 for two in the seventh over, Barbados never pressed the panic button, and Jonathan Carter’s 54 off 43 balls gave the mid-innings impetus.There might have been a slight worry when the asking rate climbed to 9.57 with seven overs remaining after left-arm fast-medium Krishmar Santokie sent down two overs for four runs, but Carter raised the tempo in the 14th over in which 21 runs were lashed from pacer Andre Russell.For the last five overs, the target was 32 away, and if Barbados were to lose from there, they would not have been deserving of a place in this tournament.They did a splendid job in restricting the regional first-class champions to 42 for two after ten overs and 77 for three in 15 overs, but they could do nothing to stop a rampaging Hyatt. He hit the ball with plenty of power to engineer a dramatic acceleration that produced 76 runs from the last five overs.Fast bowler Javon Searles claimed the early wicket of Chris Gayle with the help of a fine running catch by Carter, but it was the left-arm spin of Sulieman Benn and Ryan Hinds, along with Dwayne Smith’s medium-pace, that kept Jamaica in check at the beginning.While Hyatt’s fireworks were thoroughly entertaining, the nightcap game could not match the earlier contest for the drama that came at the end between Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana.In a match reduced to 19-overs-a-side because of wet conditions that delayed the start, Trinidad and Tobago appeared dead and buried when they started the last four overs still requiring another 67 to chase down a target of 176.Dwayne Bravo almost single-handedly won it for the 2008 Stanford 20/20 champions with a stunning 55 off 20 balls that included six sixes, but he was unable to see them through.Trinidad and Tobago blasted 27 runs in the 17th over and a further 16 in the penultimate over in which Bravo’s dismissal from the last ball left them needing 14 in the last over from off-spinner Royston Crandon.Denesh Ramdin struck a four from the first ball but was bowled swinging against the second. Dave Mohammed hoisted a catch in the deep from the third ball and Daren Ganga edged the fourth to third-man for four, leaving Trinidad and Tobago with six runs from two balls.Crandon sent down a wide, but sealed Guyana’s victory from the penultimate ball that won an lbw verdict against Ganga, who missed a cross-batted attempt.Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean’s representatives at last year’s Champions League in India where they played impressively to reach the final, were uncharacteristicly ragged in the field and muffed five chances.Guyana were quick out of the blocks. Sewnarine Chattergoon provided the early runs with 36 off 24 balls and fellow opener Travis Dowlin took over with 59 off 39 balls in completing his second half-century of the tournament. (HG)