ST. JOHN'S, Antigua (CMC):

THE POWERFUL hitting of Keiron Pollard and the sharp pace bowling of Mervyn Dillon combined to help Trinidad and Tobago beat Nevis by 74 runs and advance to the final of the Stanford 20/20 Cricket Tournament on Friday night.

Pollard, a tall, strongly built teenager, plundered 83 from 38 balls with four fours and seven sixes as Trinidad and Tobago amassed 210 for six off their 20 overs, batting first after losing the toss in the tournament's second semi-final.

Dillon, the tall, experienced new-ball bowler, bowled with fire to grab three for 30 from his four overs as the Nevisians could only manage 136 for nine from their 20 overs.

Brave move

It was a brave move by Trinidad and Tobago to move Pollard to the number three position and it paid dividends.

He came to the crease at 33 for one in the fourth over after Mario Belcon fell for 19, and proceeded to destroy the Nevis bowling. Pollard added 114 for the third wicket with skipper Daren Ganga, who smashed 62 not out off 39 balls, with two sixes and four fours. "It was a great night for us," said Ganga. "This was our night. We decided to do things differently by sending Pollard in early and look how well he played. Dillon was also great with the new ball and that worked according to plan. Great job by the boys."

The duo came together at 57 for two after William Perkins was bowled for 15 in the seventh over, and combined to push T&T to the tournament's highest score.

114-run partnership

Their 114-run partnership required just 54 balls as the Nevis bowlers were put to the sword.

When Pollard fell in the 16th over and Ricardo Powell followed him in the 17th, the innings lost momentum as left-arm slow bowler Warrington Phillip applied the brakes.

He finished with two for 33, while Tonito Willett supported with two for 28.

When Nevis batted, Dillon was accurate from the start sending back opener Keiran Powell to the third ball of the innings, as he played on to a back-of-a-length delivery without scoring.

In the next over legspinner Samuel Badree got the wickets of Shervin Woodley and Tonito Willett, as Nevis tottered at eight for three.

Dillon then effectively ended the contest when he uprooted the middle stump of skipper Stuart Williams for seven with the score at 22 for four.

After that, Nevis stumbled along and only Joel Simmonds, with a brave 65 not out off 47 balls, with five fours and three sixes, made an impression.

The only other batsman to reach double figures was Daynason Browne, who made 26 from 30 balls.

Two wickets in two balls

Pollard also returned with the ball to claim two wickets in two balls to end with two for 19, while the clever Badree finished with two for 14 from three overs.

Pollard's heroics won him US$35,000 as he collected US$25,000 for Man-of-the-Match and US$10,000 for Play-of-the-Match, a huge six over long-on which disappeared out of the ground.

Trinidad and Tobago will now meet Guyana in today's final where US$1 million will be at stake for the winners and US$500,000 for the losers.