Dominant Guyana stroll into final
T&T Red Steel's star-studded batting line-up let them down badly, paving the way for Guyana Amazon Warriors to enter the final of the first Caribbean Premier League with a seven-wicket win.
ESPNcricinfo staff
23-Aug-2013
Guyana Amazon Warriors 107 for 3 (Dilshan 39) beat Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel 103 (Cooper 27, Dilshan 2-14, Santokie 2-20) by 7 wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Given that they made the semi-finals on the back of three successive wins, the Trinidad & Tobago Red Steels would have backed themselves to qualify for the final of another T20 competition. Their star-studded batting line-up, however, let them down badly, paving the way for Guyana Amazon Warriors to enter the final of the first Caribbean Premier League.
Guyana chose to bowl first and opened with Krishmar Santokie and Tillarakaratne Dilshan. The pair were immediately effective - Dilshan dismissed Kevin O'Brien in the second over, while Santokie's slower delivery had Mahela Jayawardene lob a simple catch to Ramnaresh Sarwan at cover.
Having softened T&T up, Sarwan, the Guyana captain, then brought two of his most experienced bowlers into the attack. Lasith Malinga and Sunil Narine came on for just one over each but further stifled the struggling batsmen, conceding only six runs between them. The pressure got to Ross Taylor, who fell trying to attempt a slog over deep midwicket.
The misery continued for T&T and they found themselves at 32 for 5 in the ninth over and they slid to 56 for 6 before a crucial 45-run seventh-wicket partnership between Dwayne Bravo and Kevon Cooper brought some semblance of respectability back into the innings. Their stand also managed to lift the run rate and take the score past 100. The end of T&T's innings, however, seemed to mirror the start. Cooper was out at the end of the 18th over for a 17-ball 27. Sulieman Benn departed in the next over for a duck and Malinga, bowling the last over of the match, dismissed Bravo and Fidel Edwards off successive deliveries to wrap-up the innings for 103.
In spite of the early wicket of Lendl Simmons, Guyana were hardly troubled in the chase. Tillakaratne Dilshan, having finished with bowling figures of 2 for 14, anchored the Guyana reply with a 29-ball 39, which included three fours and a six. T&T's bowlers did manage to take two more wickets but it hardly improved their chances, as Guyana eased past the target with 22 balls to spare.