T&T smoke out Leicestershire

West Indian side qualify for the main phase with a crushing 51-run victory

The 2009 runners-up made it to the main draw in grand style at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium on a muggy Tuesday, brushing aside a completely non-existent challenge from English champions Leicestershire.

The hesitancy of the previous afternoon, when they almost made a meal of a modest chase against Ruhunu, was no more than a distant memory as they completed a 51-run victory, effectively killing off the match as a contest by the interval after amassing 168 for two.

The opening batting combine of Lendl Simmons (67, 58b, 7x4) and Adrian Barath (62, 47b, 6x4, 2x6) had laid the foundation with a record stand for T&T.

Badree, Rampaul shine

Opening bowlers Samuel Badree and Ravi Rampaul followed suit by ripping the heart out of the Leicester batting inside the Power Play, reducing them to 20 for five in six overs. Matthew Hoggard’s men just couldn’t recover from that horror start as they limped to 117 for nine, James Taylor making a bold half-century.

It wasn’t as if Leicestershire were undone in attempting the big blows such a daunting total necessitated. If anything, they were prised out by the enterprise of paceman Rampaul (4/14) and the intelligence and accuracy of leggie Badree, who finished with astonishing figures of 4-1-7-2!

Badree triggered the slide in the first over by bowling Andrew McDonald neck and crop, Rampaul accounted for the two shots-a-ball Josh Cobb and Wayne White, and the leggie tightened the screws by frustrating and then cleaning up Will Jefferson. The clueless Jefferson’s travails against the turning ball were merely reflective of the woes of the Leicester top-order that was bamboozled and transfixed.

Leicester’s batting effort also highlighted just how brilliantly Simmons and Barath had played in making another slowish track look a lot better. Simmons lived dangerously as he chanced his arm once too often early on, even if the actual ‘lives’ came the way of his partner.

Ruled not out by Bruce Oxenford when he nicked Razzaq to the wicket-keeper on 11, and reprieved by Nixon again when he muffed a stumping off Claude Henderson with the batsman on 42, the pint-sized Barath played some breathtaking strokes, not merely outscoring Simmons but also putting him to shade with his orthodoxy and grace.

Hoggard switched his bowlers around but there was far too much indiscipline and indiscretion to make any impression on the openers.

By the time Barath fell towards the end, 139 (104b) had been accrued, and even if Simmons fell next delivery, Darren Bravo and Denesh Ramdin cut loose at the end to put the issue beyond doubt.

T&T’s reward is a berth in Group A, where they join defending champions Chennai Super Kings, Cape Cobras, New South Wales Blues and Mumbai Indians.

Score board

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO: Lendl Simmons c Henderson b Gurney 67 (58b, 7x4), Adrian Barath c White b Gurney 62 (47b, 6x4, 2x6), Darren Bravo (not out) 18 (9b, 2x6), Denesh Ramdin (not out) 11 (7b, 1x4). Extras (B-2, LB-1, W-6, NB-1) 10. Total (for 2 wkts, 20 overs) 168.
Fall of wickets: 1-139 (Barath), 2-139 (Simmons).
Bowling: Matthew Hoggard 3-0-20-0 (w-1, nb-1), Harry Gurney 4-0-33-2, Abdul Razzaq 4-0-33-0, Claude Henderson 4-0-33-0, Andrew McDonald 3-0-25-0, Wayne White 2-0-21-0 (w-5).
Scoring pattern: 5 overs: 40/0; 10: 82/0; 15: 123/0; end of innings: 168/2 in 20 overs.
Runs during Power Play: 1-6 overs: 46/0.

LEICESTERSHIRE: Josh Cobb c Simmons b Rampaul 9 (6b, 2x4), Andrew McDonald b Badree 0 (3b), Will Jefferson b Badree 6 (11b), Wayne White b Rampaul 0 (7b), James Taylor (not out) 56 (47b, 4x4, 2x6), Paul Nixon lbw Narine 0 (3b), Abdul Razzaq c Badree b Cooper 21 (20b, 1x4, 1x6), Jaques du Toit b Narine 3 (5b), Claude Henderson b Rampaul 10 (16b, 1x6), Matthew Hoggard b Rampaul 0 (1b), Harry Gurney (not out) 0 (2b). Extras (LB-8, W-3, NB-1) 12. Total (for 9 wkts, 20 overs) 117.
Fall of wickets: 1-5 (McDonald), 2-9 (Cobb), 3-16 (White), 4-17 (Jefferson), 5-20 (Nixon), 6-67 (Razzaq), 7-70 (du Toit), 8-117 (Henderson), 9-117 (Hoggard).
Bowling: Samuel Badree 4-1-7-2, Ravi Rampaul 4-1-14-4 (w-1), Sunil Narine 4-0-18-2, Sherwin Ganga 3-0-30-0 (w-1), Kevon Cooper 4-0-24-1 (w-1), Lendl Simmons 1-0-16-0 (nb-1).
Scoring pattern: 5 overs: 17/4; 10: 43/5; 15: 78/7; end of innings: 117/9 in 20 overs.
Runs during Power Play: 1-6 overs: 20/5.