Tony Becca, Contributing Editor

Daren Ganga ... steered Trinidad and Tobago to victory with an unbeaten 104. - Contributed

MANDEVILLE:

JAMAICA'S BID for a place in the Carib Beer cricket series Challenge Trophy final against Carib Beer Cup winners Barbados ended in disappointment at Alpart yesterday when they were beaten by last year's Cup champions Trinidad and Tobago.

Set a victory target of 320 on the previous afternoon and resuming on 56 without loss, Trinidad and Tobago, who needed only a draw to advance to the final, eased to victory by six wickets at 4:50 p.m. when Denesh Ramdin drove at medium-pacer David Bernard Jr. and the ball flew off the edge of his bat to the third-man boundary.

Final scores: Jamaica 254 and 301; Trinidad and Tobago 236 and 320 for four with captain Daren Ganga on 104 and Ramdin on 19.

In winning the match, Trinidad and Tobago, who started the final round on 32 points and who won the match by scoring the highest total in the fourth innings of the match, ended on 44 and advanced to the Challenge Trophy final ahead of Jamaica.

In losing the match, Jamaica, who started the round on 21 and needing not only to win the match but also to prevent Trinidad and Tobago from gaining any points, finished with 25 points after winning first innings and losing a match in which they gave away 54 extras in Trinidad and Tobago's second innings.

Had Jamaica won the match after leading Trinidad and Tobago on first innings, Trinidad and Tobago would have remained on 32 points which would have meant that the home team would have squeezed into the final ahead of Trinidad and Tobago by one point.

Confident strokes

On a day when Jamaica used all their bowlers more than once, some of them four times and from either end, in an effort to win the game, Trinidad and Tobago bided their time and, after starting slowly, after pushing back a promising Jamaica who looked good after picking up an early wicket, after putting themselves in a position where only something special by Jamaica could prevent them from drawing the match and moving on, went for victory with some confident strokes.

After joining the action at 72 for one 40 minutes after the start of play, Ganga set the tone of the Trinidad and Tobago innings with a solid but at times attractive performance - his bat sometimes as broad as the proverbial barn door, sometimes like a sword as it flashed and sent the ball speeding to the boundary.

In a performance which lasted for 343 minutes and during which he faced 259 deliveries, Ganga stroked 10 boundaries while laying the foundation for the sprint to victory - a sprint started by Jason Mohammed and carried on by Kieron Pollard before Ganga and Ramdin returned things to normal.

Joining the action at 102 for two, the 20-year-old Mohammed stroked the ball confidently before, after batting for 144 minutes, after facing 125 deliveries, after stroking three fours and one six - a lovely hit over mid-wicket off the first delivery from part-time off-spinner Tamar Lambert - after some anxious moments against medium-pacer Wavell Hinds, and after sharing a third-wicket partnership of 95 in 43 overs with his captain, he went inside the line of the first delivery in a new spell by Jermaine Lawson and stroked the fast bowler straight to Lorenzo Ingram.

Easy victory

At that time, 19 minutes before tea, the score was 197 for three and with the odds in favour of Trinidad and Tobago, out walked 19-year-old Pollard who immediately chipped and stroked left-arm spinner Nikita Miller over wide long-on for a huge six.

At tea, it was 220 for three off 82 overs, and with exactly 100 to win off 38 overs, with Ganga on 50 after driving Bernard Jr. sweetly to the long-off boundary and with Pollard on seven, the odds were no longer on Trinidad and Tobago drawing the match and denying Jamaica a place in the final.

The odds at that time were on Trinidad and Tobago to win the match and although captain Hinds took the second new ball five minutes after the interval at 226 for three off 83 overs, Trinidad and Tobago, powered by Pollard who struck one six and five fours while facing 39 deliveries, eased to victory with 15 overs to spare.

Meanwhile, the Windward Islands drew with Leeward Islands on the rain-hit final day at the Carib Lumber Park Ground yesterday. Chasing 293 for victory, Windwards reached 171 for eight. Early morning rain delayed play before lunch in the match.

SCORES:LEEWARDS 382: (Austin Richards 183, Runako Morton 77, Sylvester Joseph 24; Denis George 3-82, Liam Sebastien 2-53, Deighton Butler 2-57, Kenroy Peters 2-57) and 202 (Austin Richards 43, Runako Morton 34, Jason Williams 35, Justin Athanaze 38; Liam Sebastien 5-47, Darren Sammy 3-37)

WINDWARDS 292: (Rawl Lewis 74, Andre Fletcher 69, Lyndon James 55, Darren Sammy 36; Justin Athanaze 3-68, Lionel Baker 2-43, Adam Sanford 2-60) and 171-8 (Rawl Lewis 71, Kenroy Peters 23; Omari Banks 4-58, Gavin Tonge 3-55).

In a lovely parade of his skill, and his power, the big young man drove Lawson, in successive deliveries, to the long-off boundary and then to the straight long-off boundary, stood tall, all six feet, five inches of him, and drove Lawson, off the back-foot, to the cover boundary, and then went back and nailed the pacer to the backward point boundary.

After Ganga had moved into the 70s by driving Lawson straight for four, Pollard played a magnificent front-foot drive to the extra-cover boundary off Daren Powell before, next delivery, he attempted to repeat the stroke and was bowled for 33 at 269 for four.

At that stage, with 51 runs needed off 27 overs and with Ganga still there and batting well, Ramdin joined his captain, and with the young wicketkeeper/batsman batting solidly and playing some wonderful strokes - including one when he went back and pulled fast bowler Jerome Taylor to the mid-wicket boundary, with Ganga batting better and better and reeling off some delightful strokes - including a scintillating off-drive against Bernard and a square-drive against Bernard that took him past his second century this season and his ninth in the regional competition, that was that.

Jamaica first innings 254

T&T first innings 236

Jamaica second innings 301

T&T second innings

(Resumed at 56-0)

L. Simmons b Taylor