Bridgetown, Barbados – Denesh Ramdin said it was great self-belief and team unity which saw his side bounce back from a “kick up the backside” defeat to sweep all before them and win the WICB Caribbean T20 2012.
The victorious Trinidad and Tobago team. Photo: windiescricket.com/Randy Brooks
Trinidad and Tobago suffered a shock defeat against the Windward Islands in their opening Group A match, but then roared back to life to win their next three group matches. They then hammered Barbados in the semi-finals and completely outplayed Jamaica in Sunday night’s grand final at Kensington Oval.
It gave them their second consecutive Caribbean T20 title as they took home the first prize of US$62,500 and the coveted Caribbean T20 trophy. They also qualified to represent the Caribbean for the third time at the Champions League.
“We have a great bunch of players in this team and a superb support staff and that is what did it for us. We are known as the Red Force and we showed we are a true force. We didn’t get it right in the first match, the Windwards gave us a kick up the backside, but we came back as a good strong force against Leewards and against Guyana as we found our range,” said Ramdin.
“After that it was smooth sailing because we know we have match-winners in all departments. We actually thought that Jamaica would have been stronger in the final but our bowlers did a fantastic job in the first six overs and that squeezed them. After that we knew we had the trophy in our hands.”
Kieron Pollard, one of the world’s leading power-hitters, won the Caribbean T20 Most Valuable Player Award. The powerfully-built right-hander entered the tournament at just 50 percent fitness level, but hit a Caribbean T20 record five sixes in one over against the Leewards and made 39 not out off 13 balls in the final.
Allrounder Dwayne Bravo, the side’s most experienced player, came to the party in the final and won the Star of the Match award with 49 off 34 balls including four sixes and three fours.
“It is always great to have these two fantastic players on the field for us. Once you have Brav (Dwayne Bravo) and Polly (Pollard) on the field it makes the job of captain that much easier. They can do damage to the opposition and make life very difficult for them as we saw here. I also want to congratulate our bowlers – Sunil Narine, Samuel Badree, Ravi Rampaul and Kevon Cooper – who did everything right.”
Backed by a large crowd, including several hundred fans who made the trip from Port-of-Spain, the Red Force painted Kensington Oval red as they rattled up 168-6 off their 20 overs. They then limited the Jamaicans to 105-5 off their 20 overs.
“It was great to see the way our fans came out and supported us here in Barbados for the semi-finals and the final. It was like a home away from home. Also we were delighted that the games were being seen on ESPN all over the world so the fans could see the talent in our team as well as all the talent in the other teams across the Caribbean,” Ramdin said.