Bravo guides Parkites I to T20 semis

DARREN BRAVO struck an unbeaten 60 off 56 balls to guide Queen’s Park I to the semi-final round of the TT Cricket Board (TTCB) T20 Festival, yesterday.

Parkites I, who are the defending champions, cruised to an eight-wicket win over Caldrac Club in the first of back-to-back quarter-final matches at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba.

Batting first after winning the toss, Caldrac Club were restricted to a score of 110 runs for seven wickets, in their allotted 20 overs. In reply, Parkites I comfortably responded with 115/2 off 15.2 overs.

According to David Furlonge, coach of Queen’s Park I, “(It was) a comprehensive victory but we still (have) a couple areas to tighten up on. The next couple days we’ll be doing some practice, especially in the fielding department.”

The Parkites I relinquishe d the National League crown this year but Furlonge pointed out, “We’ll take it game by game. One mistake can cost you a game so we have to focus on the next game now and getting these fellahs totally focused on playing the right way.” Caldrac’s innings revolved around opener Shaquille McDavid, who hit 26 from 29 balls with five balls, and a patient 22, off 36 balls, from Anthony D’Andrade.

Spin did the trick for the Parkites I, with leg-spinner Yannic Cariah claiming the last three wickets for 23 runs, while off-spinner Jon Russ Jaggessar (1/10) and left-armer Khary Pierre (1/18) tied down the Caldrac scoring in the middle overs. Also returning figures of 1/18 were pacers Terrence Hinds and Anderson Phillip.

Parkites I opened their batting with Bravo and Tion Webster but the latter was dismissed for 12. Webster, attempting a second successive six down the ground, was held by McDavid running back from mid-off, off his brother Nathaniel’s off-breaks.

Captain Justin Guillen contributed 20 before he flicked pacer Selwyn Alert to Brandon Harrylochan at mid-wicket.

Cariah (three not out) stayed with Bravo until the end, with the sidelined West Indies left-hander ending the match with his fifth six off leg-spinner Harrylochan.

Commenting on Bravo’s knock, Furlonge said, “He asked to open, and it’s helping us with his experience. If he can bat through 20 overs, we should have a good score.”

The semi-finals will be staged on Thursday, and the final is scheduled for Saturday at the Tarouba venue.