COOLIDGE, Antigua (CMC):
A RUN-A-BALL half-century from wicket-keeper/batsman Patrick Browne took Barbados to the brink, but Dave Mohammed kept his composure in a tense final over to carry fierce rivals Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), to a five-run victory and a place in tonight's final of the Stanford Twenty20 Cup.
Browne smote seven boundaries in 55 from 55 balls that earned him the Man-of-the-Match award, as Barbados, chasing a modest victory target of 121 from their allocation of 20 overs, fell agonisingly short in the first semi-final of this year's competition at the Stanford Cricket Ground on Friday night. Barbados entered the final over needing 14 runs to win, and Mohammed conceded five runs from the first two deliveries.
But the T&T left-arm chinaman specialist recovered to bowl a scoreless delivery and grab the wicket of Derrick Bishop stumped off the next two balls before putting the cork on the Barbadian tailenders with the last two deliveries.
The margin of victory was the smallest in the brief history of the Stanford Twenty20 Cup and shot T&T into the final for the second straight time.
The twin-island republic will face the winner of last night's second semi-final between highly-favoured Jamaica and reigning champions Guyana.
Confident start
Barbados looked on track for a place in the final and a chance at the US$1 million grand prize when they dismissed T&T for 120 in 19.1 overs; and Browne gave them a confident start to the chase.
But three wickets - two to off-break bowler Sherwin Ganga - in the space of 20 balls between the fourth and seventh overs shifted the balance of power. It left the Barbadians on 33 for three, and playing a serious game of catch-up the rest of the way at which they failed miserably.
Legspin bowler Samuel Badree bowled Ryan Nurse, promoted to open the batting, for four in the fourth over before Ganga got into action when he had Barbados captain Dwayne Smith and left-hander Jonathan Carter both caught at backward point for one run apiece essaying cuts in successive overs.
Apart from Browne, no other Barbadian batsman was able to seriously rise to the challenge, although left-hander Ryan Hinds made 15 and added 46 with the newly recognised Windies gloveman for the fourth wicket.
When Hinds top-edged his reckless slash at a perfectly good delivery from Dwayne Bravo, and was caught behind in the 15th over, Barbados were 79 for four.
The match swung decisively though, when Browne, forced to increase the scoring rate in the closing overs, tried to swing Mohammed over mid-wicket, sliced the ball, and was caught at short third man in the 18th over.
Alcindo Holder, a notorious big hitter in Barbados' domestic competitions, looked clueless against the T&T slow bowlers, and his misfiring meant the Barbadians entered the 'no guts, no glory' final over with a hump to overcome. Neither Holder, nor Bishop, nor Sulieman Benn could find their range against Mohammed, as T&T wriggled free and continued to be a jinx on the Barbadians.
Ganga was the pick of the T&T bowlers with two wickets for 18 runs from his quota of four overs, and Mohammed collected two for 22 from his four overs.
Earlier, T&T crumbled after they looked like posting a more formidable total. They lost their last six wickets for 18 runs inside the last five overs of their innings.
