Bowling is our strength, Narine our key player: T&T coach

T&T coach David Williams exuded confidence that his bowlers would produce another impressive performance against Mumbai Indians in their Champions League T20 semi-final clash.

New Delhi: Trinidad and Tobago coach David Williams on Friday exuded confidence that his bowlers would produce another impressive performance against Mumbai Indians in their Champions League T20 semi-final clash here on Saturday and said off-spinner Sunil Narine remains his trump card.

Williams said `mystery` spinner Narine`s four overs always play crucial role in his team`s success, hence benefiting the other bowlers. "The opposition always looks to play Narine out and not give him a wicket. So, his four overs are very crucial and it puts a lot of pressure on the batting side. They try and take the advantage off the other bowlers and lose wickets in doing so," Williams said at the pre-match press conference here on Friday. The bowling remains T&T`s strong point is evident from the fact that only thrice they have lost a T20 game after posting more than 150 runs on the board. "We have three bowlers -- Samuel Badree, Ravi Rampaul and Sunil Narine -- who were part of the World Twenty20 winning West Indies side. With 12 overs up their sleeves among themselves, we are generally confident of defending 150-160," the coach said. After thrashing Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets in their last group game, T&T will take on Mumbai in the second semifinal and Williams said they were confident of toppling the former champions and IPL title holders. He said they were happy to be playing on the Kotla track rather than the seaming Jaipur pitch. "This pitch is more like home. We`re accustomed to that sort of low bounce and skiddy pitch and we prefer to play the big game here," he said. Being the only non-IPL team in the semi-finals, Williams said reaching this far in the tournament was a matter of pride for his side. "Many people didn`t give us a chance to be here. Getting into the semi-final in itself is a big achievement for us and irrespective of what happens now, I`ll still be very, very proud of my guys," he said. "We`ve always been a team that plays well together. We have a history in this tournament and we`ve given a good account of ourselves right since the first edition. The guys have really come out here and played tremendous cricket so far and we`re just one game away from the final. We`re just happy to be in a position that we are in," he added. Asked about missing some of their key players to various IPL teams, Williams said, "When you have the likes of Evin Lewis come to the party and perform as well as he did, it helps the team in the absence of big players. You expect your senior players to do well but when the juniors stand up too, that`s an addition." "Yes, we miss Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Kevon Cooper is gone now too. But we`re used to it now as it`s been happening to us for years. The other guys are stepping up to the plate and that`s good news for us," he said. PTI