BY KERN RAMLOCHAN Thursday, October 22 2009

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TRINIDAD and Tobago will be aiming to secure a place in the final of the Airtel Champions League Twenty20 tournament when they take on Cape Cobras today in the second semi-final match at the Rajiv Ghandi Stadium in Hyderabad, India.

New South Wales Blues who were beaten by the national team by four wickets in the League Stage of the tournament advanced to the final yesterday after crushing Victoria Bushrangers by 79 runs.

Trinidad and Tobago are the only unbeaten team in the tournament and coach Kelvin Williams believes that the team can maintain its winning streak and advance to the final.

“Yes we are confident of beating the Cape Cobras. The guys have been playing excellent cricket. We have played four outstanding matches and that momentum will take us to the final. It is not going to be easy and I expect a difficult semi-final match against the Cobras but we have a strong balance and at the end tomorrow I expect us to finish on top,” said Williams from India yesterday.

Cape Cobras are coming off a 30-run loss in their previous match against the Delhi Daredevils in the League Stage of the tournament but Williams stated that his team is not underestimating the opposition.

“They have talented players like Herschelle Gibbs who has had three poor innings in the tournament but we know what he can do. Also there is JP Duminy, Henry Davids who has emerged as one of the leading players in the tournament and Justin Ontong. Their team is experienced and they are a compact unit,” said Williams.

The TT coach revealed that great emphasis will be placed on Duminy as he is viewed as the major threat.

“Duminy is their key player. He is their man, the finisher of the innings. He can take away the game from the opposition with his hitting. We are looking to combat that threat by getting two early wickets and that is the focus of our early bowling tactics,” said Williams. Trinidad and Tobago had training sessions at the Rajiv Ghandi Stadium yesterday and on Tuesday with the coach being pleased with the effort of his players.

“The team has been brilliant in training. We worked on things that were needed for the Cobras match. Everybody treated the session with intensity and energy and you could see the application,” said Williams.

The wicket at the Rajiv Ghandi Stadium has been conducive to high scores and Williams noted that great emphasis was placed on bowling tactics.

He added that batsman Darren Bravo should be fit for today’s match and will add to the dilemma of team selection.

“We are still monitoring Darren but he has come through the training session successfully. He did well during the fielding drills and will be ready.

“Everybody in our team is fit and we have 15 players to choose from. It will be difficult to select the final team but I am happy to have healthy competition in the team and the best combination will be selected for the match,” said a confident Williams.