LEFT-arm spinner Raj Nannan spun his way to a five-wicket haul and the Malteenoes All Stars into the semi-finals of the University of the West Indies (UWI) Unicom T20 tournament on Tuesday night at the Sir Frank Worrell Cricket ground at UWI-SPEC in Trinidad and Tobago.

The former national U-15 cricketer, who has had several years of cricketing experience in the Twin Island Republic, where he plays in the domestic league, was able to undermine the batting of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force (TTDF) cricket team to hand the visitors an eight-wicket win.

The All Stars, made up of a number of Malteenoes Sports Club cricketers, with several invitees, lost the toss and were asked to bowl first.

The home team laboured to 123 before they were bowled out in 19.1 overs.  A few batsmen had starts, but they were not able to dominate.

Keishawn Dillon led the attack with 20 unbeaten runs, but he faced 19 balls in his innings. Shaquille Johnson and Dion Wells batted with a bit more aggression, but the former lost his wicket for 18 from 12 deliveries and Wells for 15 from eight balls.

Eventual Man-of-the-Match Nannan, who opened the bowling, led the attack with 5-19 from his four overs, while Anthony Adams and Kellon Carmichael supported with two wickets each.

Rain then forced the use of the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern (DLS) method, which revised Malteenoes All Stars target to 94 off 15 overs.

With experienced batsmen Robin Bacchus and Trevon Griffith playing some solid strokes, All Stars were able to race to 95-2 in 10.4 overs.

Bacchus made 31 from 22 balls and Griffith 27 from 13.

Wells was the pick of the Defence Force bowlers with 2-24 from his four overs.

The semi-finals are scheduled for tomorrow and Saturday with the final billed for Sunday. The winners of the competition will collect TT$40 000 (approximately G$1.24M).