PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – Penetrative bowling from Krishmar Santokie was upstaged by a stroke-filled half-century from Darren Bravo, as Trinidad & Tobago made Jamaica pay for their indifference in a 49-run victory in the Caribbean Twenty20 Championship yesterday. Jamaica unsuccessfully pursued a victory target of 158 from their allocation of 18 overs in the final Group-A match under the lights at a rain-drenched Queen’s Park Oval.
Dwayne Bravo formalised the result with five balls to spare, when he bowled Nikita Miller for two, much to the delight of a crowd that was officially estimated at 13 500.
The result meant that T&T finished at the top of the group with a perfect 12 points from three straight victories, and Jamaica finished in the runners-up position, following two wins and a defeat.
Both had already qualified for the semifinals on Friday at the same venue, and await the outcome of today’s decider in Group-B between old rivals Barbados and Guyana.
Heavy showers in the T&T capital lashed the ground, but the crowds continued to swell, and waited patiently for umpires Clyde Duncan and Clancy Mack to conduct two inspections before deciding the contest would start an hour later than scheduled with each side restricted to a maximum of 18 overs.
In the prevailing conditions, it was not surprising when Jamaica sent T&T in to bat, and Santokie, bowling a full length and gaining appreciable movement through the air, collected five wickets for 24 runs in his allotted four overs.
But Bravo, playing for the first time in the competition, struck four fours and three sixes in 65 from 44 deliveries, as T&T posted a respectable 157 for seven in 18 overs.
Bravo reached his 50 from 35 balls, when he edged a loose drive from left-arm spinner Nikita Miller past ’keeper Carlton Baugh Jr to third man for his third four.
The left-hander added an important 69 for the fifth wicket with his elder brother Dwayne, the West Indies all-rounder, and enhanced his reputation as a batsman for the future with some entertaining strokes.
The elder Bravo then set Jamaica back early, when he trapped opener Brenton Parchment, also playing for the first time in the CT20, for a first-ball duck in the first over.
Marlon Samuels came to the crease, and with Xavier Marshall, whose 25 was the top score, got the Jamaicans moving.
Four wickets, including Samuels and Marshall, tumbled for 10 runs in the space of 22 balls to leave Jamaica tottering on 53 for five, and they never recovered.
The elder Bravo, Kieron Pollard, and Sherwin Ganga ended with two wickets apiece.
Earlier, Santokie had caused T&T trouble in his opening spell, when he bowled William Perkins behind his back for 12, and had Lendl Simmons caught at point, as T&T wobbled to 24 for three in the fifth over.
T&T slipped into further trouble on 58 for four in the eighth over, when their captain Daren Ganga was caught at deep cover off his opposite number Tamar Lambert for 17.
The Bravo brothers however, revived T&T before Santokie returned for his final two overs to rip them out, as well as the big-hitting Pollard in-between, as the hosts gathered 31 from the last four overs.
T&T will face the runners-up in Group-B in the first semi-final today, the same day that Jamaica will meet the winner in Group-B in the second semi-final.
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO (18 overs maximum)
W. Perkins b Santokie    12
A. Barath b Bernard    1
L. Simmons c Marshall b Santokie    4
D.M. Bravo c Russell b Santokie    65
D. Ganga c Santokie b Lambert    17
D.J. Bravo c Marshall b Santokie    28
K. Pollard b Santokie    5
D. Ramdin not out    6
S. Ganga not out    6
Extras: (lb-5, w-7, nb-1)    13
Total: (7 wkts, 18 overs)    157
Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-17, 3-24, 4-58, 5-127, 6-145, 7-146.
Bowling: Russell 3-0-34-0 (w-1), Bernard 4-0-24-1 (w-1), Santokie 4-0-24-5 (w-5), Miller 3-0-30-0, Lambert 3-0-21-1, Hinds 1-0-19-0 (nb-1).
JAMAICA (target: 158 off 18 overs)
X. Marshall c D. Ganga b Pollard    25
B. Parchment lbw b D.J. Bravo    0
M. Samuels lbw b S. Ganga    16
D. Hyatt c S. Ganga b Simmons    1
W. Hinds c D.M. Bravo b Cooper    16
T. Lambert c Simmons b Mohammed    1
C. Baugh c D.J. Bravo b Pollard    17
D. Bernard run-out (S. Ganga)    3
A. Russell stp. Ramdin b S. Ganga    13
N. Miller b D.J. Bravo    2
K. Santokie not out    0
Extras: (b-2, lb-1, w-10, nb-1)    14
Total: (all out, 17.1 overs)    108
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-43, 3-46, 4-52, 5-53, 6-81, 7-90, 8-104, 9-104.
Bowling: D.J. Bravo 3.1-0-14-2 (nb-1, w-2), Cooper 3-0-30-1 (w-6), S. Ganga 3-0-19-2, Simmons 1-0-4-1, Mohammed 3-1-20-1, Pollard 4-0-18-2 (w-2).
Points: Trinidad & Tobago 4, Jamaica 0