Skipper Ganga praises team effort

TRINIDAD and Tobago cricketers are aiming to return home with another outright win over the Leeward Islands in their crucial Carib Beer Series ninth round fixture at the Salem Park, Montserrat which starts on Friday. Daren Ganga’s team registered a comprehensive seven-wicket triumph over Windwards at Guaracara Park two Sundays ago and then shocked current leaders Jamaica on Monday at Shaw Park in Tobago. The Jamaicans, who had won six straight matches, went down by 70 runs after gaining first innings points.

Captain Ganga hailed the victory as “A great team effort.” The team showed a lot of character and determination to fight back after we conceded first innings points,” he said. “We knew all along once we can get a score beyond three hundred runs in the second innings, it would make it difficult for the Jamaicans to push for victory on the pitch which we expected to crack and slow down a bit,” Ganga said. “Everything seemed to work out just as we wanted with Lendl Simmons getting a double century (200 in the second innings).

He had very good support from (Denesh) Ramdin and (Richard) Kelly, both of whom got into the 60s and gave us the type of score which we knew we could defend on that pitch,” he said. Ganga stressed that the team was prepared mentally for the challenge and that they were always optimistic of beating the Jamaicans. “We knew that without Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels, the Jamaican team could be beaten. They barely edged out us in Jamaica when we had some problems but with this team and the spirit shown against Windward Islands, I knew we were up to the task of fighting for an outright win, which we eventually got,” Ganga said. “And I am very proud of how all the players responded to the various situations in the match. It was a great team effort and we want to take the same team spirit into the other matches.”

He defended his decision to bat first at Shaw Park after winning the toss. “Winning the toss was important because I knew that the moisture on the pitch would have dried out very quickly with the intense heat which we were experiencing,” he said. “And then to bat last on the pitch, which we knew would crack and make batting a bit more difficult would have been to our advantage, once we got the type of score to put pressure on the Jamaicans.” He praised his bowlers especially leftarm spinner Dave Mohammed who emerged as the leading wicket-taker in the match. He picked up eight wickets for 111 runs (4 for 66 and 4 for 55). “Alhough we dropped a few crucial catches of (Donovan) Pagon and (Carlton) Baugh, I thought that the bowlers did a splendid job.

I knew that our spinners Dave (Mohammed), Amit (Jaggernauth) and Sammy (Samuel Badree) would be dangerous on the last day,” Ganga said. “Dave really bowled well in both innings and you see that he wants to get more wickets. So I am hoping that his form holds up in the other matches. I know that as captain, I can call upon Dave whenever I want him to do something extra and he is willing to try as best as possible to get the  wickets,” he said. “That’s very heartening to know that I can depend upon him because he is the senior spinner in the team. Merv (Mervyn Dillon), Kelly and Rayad (Emrit) also bowled well and I know that they put everything into their game. They have the determination to be successful and I am really happy with their efforts,” Ganga said. “I also want to give thanks to the team’s technical staff- manager (Giles Antoine), coach (David Williams) and trainer (Gerard Garcia) for the wonderful support and help provided throughout. Our successes are also as a result of the support they are also providing,” the TT captain said. The squad departs today for Montserrat at 9.15 am.

TT squad: Daren Ganga (captain), Denesh Ramdin (vice-captain), Lendl Simmons, Imran Khan, Ricardo Powell, Samuel Badree, Richard Kelly, Rayad Emrit, Dave Mohammed, Mervyn Dillon, Amit Jaggernauth, Gregory Mahabir and Rishi Bachan. Officials are Giles Antoine (manager), David Williams (coach) and Gerard Garcia (trainer).