Ganga late assault helps T&T beat Ruhuna in CLT20

Sherwin Ganga shone with a late blitzkrieg as Trinidad and Tobago defeated debutants Ruhuna Eleven by five wickets in inaugural Champions League Twenty20 qualifier.

Hyderabad: Sherwin Ganga shone with a late blitzkrieg as Trinidad and Tobago defeated debutants Ruhuna Eleven by five wickets in a low-scoring inaugural Champions League Twenty20 qualifier clash on Monday.

Ganga (39 not out) smashed two sixes and a four as T & T collected 21 runs from the penultimate over and chased down the target of 139 with seven balls to spare after their top-order batsmen, except for Darren Bravo, failed to contribute substantially. Bravo contributed a 49-ball 44 not out and shared 53 runs in just 26 balls for the unfinished sixth wicket stand to see Trinidad opened their campaign on a winning note at the Rajiv Gandhi International cricket stadium. Trinidad struggled in their run chase initially with three key wickets falling inside the first six overs before Bravo and Ganga took over. While Bravo played cautiously, his partner Ganga had other ideas in mind as he clobbered Ruhuna bowlers all over the park. His 15-ball unbeaten 39 had four fours and two sixes. Requiring 19 off last two overs, Ganga hoisted spinner Arosh Janoda for two sixes and a four to settle the issue in his team`s favour. After the early loss of Lendl Simmons, Adrian Barath and Daren Ganga, Bravo and Denesh Ramdin (18) added 28 runs for the fourth wicket to put their side back on track. Bravo then added another crucial 25 runs for the fifth wicket with Jason Mohammad (17) to give the perfect platform for Ganga`s final flourish. For Ruhuna, Janaka Gunaratne grabbed two wickets while Sanath Jayasuriya, Janoda and Perera took one wicket each. PTI