Kevon Cooper seals last over thriller for Trinidad

Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel 124-8 (Akmal 30) beat
Guyana Amazon Warriors 118 (Simmons 50) by three wickets
14th Match in the Caribbean Premier League, St Kitts

A no ball by Devendra Bishoo off the penultimate delivery of the match allowed Kevon Cooper to blast a six that took Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel to a three-wicket win over Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League match in Basseterre on Saturday.

After winning the toss and opting to bat, Guyana got off to the worst possible start as they were reduced to five for two in the third over.

Jacques Kallis (2-16) first had Tillakaratne Dilshan (2) mistime a slog before removing Denesh Ramdin (0) LBW for a golden duck.

Lendl Simmons (50) broke the shackles as he hammered Kallis for a maximum over mid-wicket in the fifth over that also saw Brad Hodge (19) collect a couple of boundaries as the Guyana innings gained some momentum.

Hodge seemed to be in his element as he pulled Cooper (2-25) for a boundary past backward square leg before depositing Sulieman Benn (0-19) over deep square leg for a maximum.

The 35-run partnership that came off 30 balls came to an end when Samuel Badree (1-2) took out Hodge with a cracker of a delivery that stuck in the surface to force the leading edge.

Sunil Narine (14), who was promoted up the order to provide impetus to the innings, stroked Johan Botha for a six and then belted Cooper to the fence before he became the first of Dwayne Bravo’s (4-18) four victims in the match.

Guyana never really gained momentum as wickets kept falling at regular intervals with the Trinidad & Tobago bowlers sticking to a disciplined line and length.

Simmons carried on from one end though as he took a boundary and a six off successive deliveries in the 13th over of the innings that was bowled by James Searles (0-20).

Having completed a well-made fifty, Simmons was castled by Dwayne Bravo (4-18), who was brilliant, particularly in the end overs.

After a long wobble Guyana finally bowled out in 19.4 overs with just 118 runs on the board with the pitch seemingly inconsistent to bat on.

With a small target to chase, opening batsman Cameron Delport (22) was in a hurry as he collected three boundaries off Merchant de Lange’s (0-20) first over to get Trinidad off to a flier.

Veerasammy Permaul (1-21) held his nerve though and had the South African miss a slog across the line to draw first blood for Guyana.

Darren Bravo (19) and Jacques Kallis (20) stitched a patient 38-run partnership to ensure a seemingly smooth finish for Trinidad.

Both batsmen took their time as they played each ball on merit and waited for the bad ball to come which they punished with disdain.

The stand was broken when Kallis after having dismissed Dilshan (1-31) over long on mistimed a pull shot to be caught at deep mid-wicket.

Bravo didn’t last too long thereafter as he was removed by Narine (1-18) had the left-hander miscue a big hit to long on.

With two quick wickets lost, Trinidad were suddenly under pressure but Kamran Akmal launched a blistering counter-attack to break the shackles.

After pulling Devendra Bishoo (4-24) to the deep mid-wicket fence, Akmal used his feet well to Dilshan to clobber a boundary and a six off successive delivery to infuse momentum into the chase.

Dwayne Bravo (10) played second fiddle to Akmal as the pair seemed to be running away with the game before Bishoo made his presence felt in the game in a big manner.

The wily leg-spinner struck twice in the 16th over of the innings removing both the set batsmen to initiate another twist in the game.

A lovely piece of bowling helped by sharp turn got through between Bravo’s bat and pad while Akmal mistimed a cut shot straight to Dilshan who took it on the second chance as Trinidad were jolted suddenly.

Bishoo continued to keep Guyana in the match as he bowled with great control to pick wickets at regular intervals.

With five needed off the final over, Bishoo struck off the second ball to take his wickets tally to four as pressure mounted on Trinidad.

However, with two runs required from as many balls, Bishoo bowled a shocker of a no ball which obviously meant a free hit off the next delivery.

Cooper (7 not out) held his nerve and calmly launched the next delivery straight down the ground over long-on to seal Trinidad’s maiden victory of the season.

Trinidad & Tobago skipper Bravo was named as the man of the match for his fantastic four-wicket haul that helped in restricting Guyana to a low score.

The win means that Trinidad finally goes up a spot from the bottom position that is now occupied by Guyana.

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