NSW end T&T run, crowned champions

Aussie outfit scores facile 41-run win in final

But the victory would not have been possible without Brett Lee, who was the difference between professional New South Wales and spirited Trinidad. To start with, man of the match and man of the series Lee came up with a blistering 48 under the most trying circumstances to lift the Blues to 159 for nine, a par score considering the bowling might of the Australians. T&T could make only 118.

Lee wrote a pointer to things to come when Trinidad started their innings, castling the dangerous William Perkins with the second ball of the first over. The vivacious paceman brought more joy to his team when he latched onto a brilliant catch off his own bowling to send Lendl Simmons back.

Leg-spinner Steven Smith packed off Adrian Barath and suddenly Trinidad found themselves at 21 for three, and the hunter became the hunted in a matter of just 14 balls.

You don’t need to teach an Australian side how to exploit such a golden chance presented to them and they did precisely that with some tight bowling and equally sharp effort on the field. The biggest threat for Blues was Kieron Pollard and for a brief while he appeared to take the match away, but Hauritz removed him to end Trinidad’s hopes.

Earlier, Phillip Hughes and David Warner added 24 runs for the opening wicket in just over three overs, raising the visions of a NSW romp to a huge total. Ravi Rampaul fetched the first breakthrough for Trinidad when he cleaned up Hughes. Hughes’ dismissal triggered a top order collapse that saw skipper Simon Katich, Warner and Moises Henriques returning to the pavilion without making any significant contributions.

At four for 47 in little over seven overs, the Blues were in danger of getting bowled out for a below par total. However, Lee used his nearly 10 years of experience in top flight cricket to bring NSW back into the match in the company of Steve Smith as the duo added 49 runs off 37 balls.

DH News Service

NEW SOUTH WALES BLUES: Da-vid Warner c Mohammed b Bravo 19, Phil Hughes b Rampaul 3, Katich c Barath b Bravo 16, Henriques c S Ga-nga b Pollard 4, Ben Roherer c S Ganga b Mohammed 16, Steve Smith c Simmons b S Ganga 33, Daniel Smith b Rampaul 3, Brett Lee c Perkins b Rampaul 48, N Hauritz (run out) 10, Stuart Clark (not out) 0. Extras (LB-5, W-2) 7. Total (9 wkts, 20 overs) 159.
Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-32, 3-45, 4-47, 5-75, 6-83, 7-132, 8-159, 9-159.
Bowling: S Ganga 4-0-29-1, Rampaul 4-0-20-3, D Bravo 3-0-27-2, Pollard 3-0-27-1, Mohammed 3-0-19-1, Simmons 2-0-23-1, Stewart 1-0-9-0.
Runs during Power Play: 1-6: 42/2.

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO:  William Perkins b Lee 0, Adrian Barath c D Smith b S Smith 14, Lendl Simmons c&b Lee 4, Daren Ganga c Warner b S Smith 19, D Bravo b Bollinger 17, Denesh Ramdin c S Smith b Clark 16, Pollard c Lee b Hauritz 26, Sherwin Ganga c Henriques b Hauritz 5, Navin Stewart c Henrique b Clark 4, Mohammed c Hughes b Clark 1, Rampaul (not out) 0. Extras (LB-5, W-4, NB-3) 12. Total (all out, 15.5 overs) 118.
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-21, 3-21, 4-45, 5-68, 6-93, 7-107, 8-113, 9-118.
Bowling: Lee 2-0-10-2, Smith 4-0-32-2, Bollinger 4-0-27-1, Clark 3.5-0-21-3, Hauritz 2-0-23-2.
Runs during Power Play: 1-6: 47/4.