Sunil, Mohammed steer T&T to Super50 title
Jason Mohammed’s maiden List A century and amazing figures of six wickets for nine runs from spinner Sunil Narine guided the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force to their 11th regional 50-over title via a comprehensive 135-run win over the Guyana Jaguars in the Nagico Sup50 final at Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, yesterday.
The Red Force had Mohammed to thank for getting them a respectable total, the T&T vice-captain slamming six sixes and 11 fours in an unbeaten 117 off 132 balls to help the hosts recover from 53 for four off 18 overs to post 200 for eight off their 50 overs.
The Jaguars were eventually dismissed for 65 with Narine leading the charge and Dwayne Bravo and Jason Mohammed chipping in with two wickets each as they helped T&T wipe out the memories of their semi-final loss to the Barbados Pride at the same venue a year ago.
Mohammed stood out against a quality Guyana spin attack which included West Indies Test leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo and left-arm orthodox bowler Veerasammy Permaul, holding the T&T innings after some early setbacks.
Permaul collected three wickets for 22 runs from ten overs to keep the T&T batsmen in check but it was pacer Paul Wintz who pushed the home side onto the back foot. He had Evin Lewis trapped leg before wicket off the first ball of the match before sending back Darren Bravo for five, thanks to a good catch from substitute fielder Vishaul Singh, as T&T slipped to 14 for two in the seventh over.
A 38-run stand between Jeremy Solozano (21) and Mohammed revived the T&T innings but only for a while before the Jaguars spinners turned up the heat. Solozano was caught and bowled by Permaul while Steven Katwaroo fell to Royston Crandon for a nine-ball “duck” leaving the hosts in trouble at 53 for four after 18 overs.
But Mohammed defied the Guyanese bowlers cutting Bishoo to backward point for four to bring up his half century off 81 balls. He counted eight fours and a six at that stage with T&T on 98 for five off 32 overs. The T&T vice-captain accelerated towards the end, hitting two fours and two sixes off the final over to get the packed Oval crowd on their feet and boost the T&T score.
Narine then went to work snatching three quick wickets to put the brakes on the Guyanese innings as they slipped from 36 without loss to 39 for three in the space of three overs. The off-spinner had the aggressive Trevon Griffith caught by Kieron Pollard at first slip for a 28-ball 31, which included six fours, before removing Raymon Reifer (one) and Rajindra Chandrika (seven) both via the lbw route.
Dwayne Bravo got into the act with one that cut back to trap Guyana skipper Christopher Barnwell lbw for zero before Narine struck to remove the big wicket of Shivnarine Chanderpaul who was trapped lbw for seven as the Jaguars slipped to 49 for five after 15 overs.
A stunning one handed return catch by Dwayne Bravo sent Anthony Bramble packing for one before Narine completed his five-wicket haul when Royston Crandon edged a straight one behind to wicketkeeper Steven Katwaroo setting off early celebrations around the ground. Crandon was quickly followed by Permaul who was out lbw to Narine three balls later and the Jaguars had no way back.