T&T hold nerve to beat Super Kings

A determined Trinidad & Tobago held their nerve this time, after Sunil Narine followed up a match-changing innings from Kevon Cooper with miserly off-spin bowling to snatch a dramatic, six-wicket victory over reigning champions Chennai Super Kings in the Champions League Twenty20 yesterday.

Narine earned the Man of the Match award and became the tournament's most successful bowler, when he captured three wickets for eight runs from his allotted four overs, as CSK finished on 111 for six, replying to T&T's 123 for eight in their crucial Group A match at the Chidambaram Stadium.

"I bowled in the right areas and I just did my best," said Nairne. "We needed to take wickets at regular intervals, which we did. I thought everyone bowled well and I hope we carry this forward into our next game against the Cobras."

First victory

The result meant that the Red Force grabbed their first victory in the main draw of the tournament, after narrowly losing their previous two matches.

This left the Caribbean T20 champions tied with the Indian Premier League (IPL) champions on two points at the bottom of the group, which the Mumbai Indians top with five points, followed by the New South Wales Blues of Australia on four and Cape Cobras of South Africa on three.

"It is always good to get a win and tough luck for the Super Kings," said Daren Ganga, the T&T skipper. "We had lost two close matches earlier and now, the probability of us getting into the semi-finals is there provided we beat Cobras. That is all we can do."

T&T face the Cobras in their final group match tomorrow at this same venue, seeking a victory that keeps them in the hunt for a place in the semi-finals.

A late cameo from Cooper that included one four and three sixes in 28 from 10 balls beefed-up the Red Force's total, after a few of the top-order batsmen got starts, but failed to carry on.

First match

Williams Perkins came into the side for his first match of the tournament ahead of Jason Mohammed and hit the top score 34; Adrian Barath dropped down the order to No.4 and made 23; and Lendl Simmons typically helped give the innings early momentum with 20.

The visitors' batting was kept in check by Australia left-arm fast-bowler Doug Bollinger with three for 30 from four overs, and left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati with two for 18 from four overs.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indian national captain, while congratulating his opponents, said that the runs they conceded at the death cost them the game.

"We were looking to chase around 110, but they scored another 10 to 12 which helped them to win," he said. "As the ball got older, it became difficult as it became muddy.

"We should go into our last game (against the New South Wales Blues) to win. It is good that we will be playing last (on Tuesday) and so we will know the scenario."

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO (maximum 20 overs)

L. Simmons run out (Saha/+Dhoni) 20

W. Perkins c Bandrinath b Jakati 34

D.M. Bravo c and b Jakati 1

A. Barath b Bollinger 23

D. Ganga c Raina b Ashwin 8

+D. Ramdin lbw b D.J. Bravo 3

K. Cooper c D.J. Bravo b Bollinger 28

S. Ganga b Bollinger 3

R. Rampaul not out 1

Extras: (lb1, w1) 2

TOTAL: (8 wkts, 20 overs) 123

S. Narine, S. Badree did not bat

Fall of wickets: 1-52 (Perkins, 9.3 overs); 2-55 (Simmons, 10.3); 3-57 (Bravo, 11.4); 4-72 (D. Ganga, 14.4); 5-90 (+Ramdin, 16.5); 6-92 (Barath, 17.2); 7-110 (S. Ganga, 19.1); 8-123 (Cooper, 19.6)

Bowling: Morkel 4-0-24-0 (w1); Bollinger 4-0-30-3; D.J. Bravo 4-0-25-1; Jakati 4-0-18-2; Ashwin 4-0-25-1

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS (target: 124 off 20 overs)

M. Hussey c wkpr Ramdin b Rampaul 13

M. Vijay b Narine 6

S. Raina c and b Narine 2

S. Badrinath run out (D. Ganga/Cooper) 15

W. Saha lbw b Cooper 8

+M.S. Dhoni c and b Narine 7

D.J. Bravo not out 32

A. Morkel not out 18

Extras: (lb5, w4, nb1) 10

TOTAL: (6 wkts, 20 overs) 111

R. Ashwin, D. Bollinger, S. Jakati did not bat

Fall of wickets: 1-21 (Vijay, 2.5 overs); 2-25 (Raina, 4.3); 3-27 (Hussey, 5.6); 4-48 (Saha, 9.6); 5-52 (Badrinath, 11.5); 6-75 (+Dhoni, 16.3)

Bowling: Badree 4-0-15-0; Rampaul 4-0-35-1 (nb1, w1); Narine 4-0-8-3; S. Ganga 4-0-33-0 (w2); Cooper 4-0-15-1

Result: T&T won by 12 runs

Points: T&T 2, Chennai Super Kings 0

Man-of-the-Match: Sunil Narine (T&T)

Umpires: B. Bowden, S. Tarapore

TV umpire: J. Cloete

Matchreferee: R. Madugalle

Reserve umpire: V. Kulkarni