Coolidge, Antigua – 28 October 2008 – The official records will show that England won, but it was a moral victory for Trinidad and Tobago.The Champions Cup winners and Stanford 20/20 champions pushed the international opposition to the limit before losing a fascinating match by one run on Tuesday night.
A tense finish to the fourth match of the Stanford Super Series brought the crowd to life.
For the second straight night, Denesh Ramdin was the man behind Trinidad and Tobago’s run-chase, but he just couldn’t finish it on this occasion.
Chasing England’s 141 for six, Trinidad and Tobago were up against it when they needed 49 runs from the last five overs, but Ramdin played brilliantly for 37 off 36 balls and the target gradually became within reach.
When he fell at the end of the 18th over, 17 runs were still needed and the match went into the final over with ten runs required for victory.
England turned to Steve Harmison who only allowed one run off the bat and a leg-bye from the first three balls.
Samuel Badree raised Trinidad and Tobago’s hopes with a flicked four to fine-leg after virtually walking across his stumps.
Badree then squeezed a single to point from the fifth ball and all the attention switched to Ravi Rampaul, who needed to score three runs off the final ball if Trinidad and Tobago were to complete a monumental upset.
The ball peeled off the outside edge to third-man where Ian Bell was stationed. Rampaul tried desperately to complete a second run that would have tied the match but was short of his ground when wicket-keeper Matt Prior broke the stumps. It left Trinidad and Tobago on 140 for nine.
Bubbling with confidence after beating Middlesex the previous night, Trinidad and Tobago benefitted from a promising start when Lendl Simmons (21) and Darren Bravo (15) pushed them to 41 for one from the first five overs.
Over the next ten overs, England pegged them back, mainly through an outstanding spell from medium-pacer Paul Collingwood, whose four overs included two wickets and a mere 12 runs.
When England batted, Sherwin Ganga grabbed four wickets with his off-spin, but captain Kevin Pietersen lit up the ground with an entertaining 44 off 30 balls that contained three authentic sixes.
Ganga, who removed Pietersen to a catch at deep backward square-leg in the 17th over, earlier dismissed openers Ian Bell and Matt Prior.
Ganga finished with four for 23 from four overs and also held a catch in the deep, one of four skied catches Trinidad and Tobago were able to hold onto.
The Caribbean side did well to restrict England to 55 runs in the first ten overs, but the tourists smashed 86 in the second half of the innings.
Bell was the main source of runs in the early stages with 37 off 41 balls, but yet again leg-spinner Samuel Badree was effective with the new ball in four tidy overs that yielded 15 runs.
The match was England’s last game before they face the Stanford Superstars on Saturday in a US$20 million contest.
SCORES:
England 141-6 in 20 overs (Kevin Pietersen 44, Ian Bell 37; Sherwin Ganga 4-0-23-4). Trinidad and Tobago 140-9 in 20 overs (Denesh Ramdin 37, Lendl Simmons 21, Andrew Flintoff 4-0-30-3, Paul Collingwood 4-0-12-2). England won by one run..