Trinidad and Tobago staged a dramatic, late onslaught to pull off a sensational two-wicket victory over Cape Cobras in a Champions League Twenty20 thriller at the M A Chidambaram stadium, in Chennai, on Tuesday.
Chasing a modest target of 138, T&T were struggling from the start of their run chase, as they were reduced to 26 for two by the sixth over, both openers falling cheaply.
Wickets fell regularly, and T&T needed 24 runs from the last two overs, with three wickets in hand.
But the match took a dramatic turn in the last two overs, as T&T took 15 runs from the penultimate one, bowled by fast bowler Dale Steyn, who had conceded just three runs and scalped one wicket from his three overs till then.
Nine runs were needed from the final over and Trinidad and Tobago got them with two balls to spare.
Darren Bravo top-scored with a 36-ball 29 while Kevon Cooper hung on till the end, scoring 24 not out, to take T&T to victory.
Cooper, who hoisted Steyn for a six in the penultimate over to tilt the match in his side's favour, hit the winning runs.
With the win in their last Group A match, T&T collected four points from two wins in the four league matches, while Cape Cobras ended their campaign with three points.
T&T never looked like chasing down the modest target as Steyn bowled a fiery first over maiden and came back to dismiss William Perkins (6) in his next over with a ball that straightened after pitching between middle and leg to win a LBW shout.
Earlier, Owais Shah and Dane Vilas struck fluent half centuries as Cape Cobras recovered from a wobbly start. Shah (63 not out) and Vilas (54) were instrumental in the revival after they were reeling at 10 for two in the fourth over.
After electing to bat, their two openers were back to the pavilion without much contribution. Trinidad and Tobago opened their bowling with leg-spinner Samuel Badree, who clean bowled Richard Levi for a duck with the second ball of the innings.
The other opener, Herschelle Gibbs (2), hung around for a while but not could not check his aggression for long and was out while going for a big shot. He mistimed a shot off a Ravi Rampaul delivery and holed out to mid-of fielder Darren Bravo.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Vilas and Shah then stuck deep for a long haul to repair the innings. The duo took the Cape Cobras' score to 97 for two, stitching 87 runs from 11.1 overs for the third wicket, before Vilas was out in the 15th over.
Vilas fell to leg-spinner Sunil Narine as he went for a pull shot off a delivery that landed outside off, only to edge it to cover fielder Daren Ganga. His 54 came from 44 balls and had seven fours in it.
Cape Cobras, however, could not capitalise on the good work as they could add just 35 runs from the last five overs.
JP Duminy was out cheaply for nine in the penultimate over, clean bowled by Kevon Cooper.
