Bridgetown, Barbados – Trinidad & Tobago are Caribbean Twenty20 2011 champions. They played like champions and comprehensively disposed of the best English Twenty20 side – Hampshire Royals by 36 runs.
Hampshire faltered and fumbled to 111 for 8 as the Trinis applied the bowling vice on their run chase.
Star of the Match Darren Bravo hit a bazooka 41 from 28 balls to lead the Trinis to 147 for 7 from 20 overs as they got off to a blistering start, racing to 79 in the 10th over when the super-talented left hander got out to left arm spinner Danny Briggs (4-0-9-2) whose frugal bowling led the Royals.
Bravo unleashed five exquisitely delightful fours and a pair of sixes as he entertained the over 7000 Kensington Oval crowd with delectable strokeplay.
After T&T slipped in the middle and found themselves short by the 18th over, stand-in captain Denesh Ramdin rammed in 33 runs from 19 balls. Ramdin took over from inspirational captain Daren Ganga who missed the final with a split webbing on his left hand.
The Hampshire run chase was blunted from the inception when Ravi Rampaul (4-1-25-) started with a maiden then Samuel Badree bowled power hitter Johannes Myburgh for a second ball duck. After that the Englishmen never really challenged as the Jason Mohammed (2.1-0-6-2) provided a surprise spin package in collaboration with the unrelenting spin-seam attack.
Benjamin Howell tried but it was mostly in vain, labouring to a top score of 28 from 31 balls with a pair of fours as the curtain was brought down on a high energy Caribbean Twenty20 with the Trinis leaping to victory after the improbable 42 runs from the last over was not even challenged.
T&T have now joined Guyana as the only regional Twenty20 double champions.
In the first game of the evening to determine the third placed team, Jamaica overcame the Windwards by 9 runs.
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