Bouyant youngsters hunt ‘lucky seven’

Skipper Daren Ganga and his buoyant Trinidad and Tobago team are hunting their seventh regional limited-overs cricket title today. They are seeking to dethrone defending champions Guyana in the President’s Cup competition final at Kensington Oval in Barbados. Ganga and his young players advanced to the final by virtue of a faster run-rate when their enthralling match ended prematurely in fading light at the Windward Club ground, Lucas on Friday.

This victory was no fluke or flash in the pan against the mighty Barbadian outfit on their home ground and before their compatriots. The inexperienced team also did the unthinkable by beating the star-studded Barbados team in the opening round fixture at the Enmore Regional Community Centre ground. They won by three-wickets and it was debutant opener Sherwin Ganga who copped the “Man of the Match” award then. In the crucial semi-final encounter, the 22-year-old Ganga, younger brother of the team’s captain, showed that he has a bright future in the game as he demonstrated his all-round ability once again with a brilliant 64 (including two sixes and five fours) and a containing spell of 10-2-28-1. He was again adjudicated as “Man of the Match.”

Sherwin Ganga featured in two significant partnerships of 64 for the first with promoted opener Gregory Mahabir (27) and 69 for the second with his captain who made 50 (one six and four fours). He has been the revelation in this inexperienced team which is competing without the services of West Indies players Brian Lara (resting from too much international cricket), Dwayne Bravo (injured in a charity match), Mervyn Dillon (injured in England), Ravi Ramphal (injured in England), Dave Mohammed (failed to show up at trials) and Lendl Simmons (injured in a car accident). Despite the absence of the more established players, Ganga and his younger counterparts have buckled down to the task of winning TT’s first major senior title in eight years.

Lara led the last winning combination against Guyana at Bourda in 1996 when legspinner Rajendra Dhanraj’s hat-trick (nine-run win) sparked wild celebrations among the Trinidadians at Bourda and here at home. Lara was also at the helm when TT defeated Barbados at the Queen’s Park Oval in 1990 and shared the title with Carl Hooper’s Guyana when the final was abandoned twice at the Oval in 1985. Both days the match was interrupted by rain without one innings completed. TT also won in 1979, 1981 and 1992. Guyana are the winningest team with title victories in 1980, 1983, 1985, 1993 (shared), 1995 (shared), 1998, 2001 and 2003.

Ganga, the West Indies “A” team captain, Sherwin and Mahabir —  the form batsmen will have to produce substantial scores again and lay the platform for hard-hitting Ricardo Powell, Imran Jan, Dinesh Ramdin and Richard Kelly to explode in the middle and closing overs. But apart from the batsmen, pacers Reyad Emrit and Kelly as well as spinners Rodney Sooklal, Imran Jan and Sherwin Ganga also made their telling contributions with the ball at different stages in the six matches so far. Guyana prevailed over TT in their hard-fought first round encounter at the Albion Regional Development Centre. And they are fully aware that skipper Ganga (101 not out against Guyana) and his boys are determined to return home with the coveted President’s Cup —  emblem of regional Limited-overs supremacy.