The left-arm spinner – coincidentally from T&T – captured six wickets for 55 runs from 22 overs, as Daren Ganga’s side failed to successfully chase 276 for victory on the fourth and final day in their first round match at Jarrett Park.
Kantasingh, aged 23, ended with match figures of 12 for 84 from 34.4 overs, as T&T were dismissed for 124 in their second innings about 10 minutes before the rescheduled tea break, and the threatening rain arrived to drench the ground.
Ryan Austin, the T&T-born Barbadian off-spinner and last season’s leading bowler, had the privilege of formalising the result, when he had Dave Mohammed stumped for 11. Justin Guillen’s 31 was the best effort with the bat for T&T, and Sherwin Ganga, younger brother of Daren, made 20, but no other batsman passed his score. The result puts the CCC on top of the standings along with defending champions Jamaica, who wrapped-up a six-wicket victory over Windward Islands earlier in the day at Chedwin Park near the former Jamaica capital of Spanish Town.
CCC, leading by 127 on first innings, had declared their second innings on 148 for five, when their captain Floyd Reifer was run out just over an hour before the rescheduled lunch interval.
Omar Phillips finished with the top score for the CCC of an unbeaten 70 which followed a chancy 88 in the first innings. He added 51 for the fifth wicket with Reifer to hasten the declaration, after play started an hour later than scheduled. T&T started quietly, but opener Justin Guillen stepped up, when Kantasingh was brought into the attack from the southern end. He gathered eight from the spinner’s first over, and clattered two fours and a six in his second over. But Kantasingh gained the upper hand, when the left-hander was caught at short leg turning a delivery straight into the lap of the fielder.Austin fortuitously tightened the grip, when Lendl Simmons was dubiously caught at short leg for 18 from a delivery which appeared to come straight from the pad, as T&T reached 52 for two at lunch.
After the interval, the Kantasingh spell over the T&T batsmen continued. He struck in the seventh over following lunch, when Daren Ganga was caught at first slip for six. Denesh Ramdin joined the younger Ganga and stemmed the fall of wickets with a stand of 32 for the fourth wicket.
But T&T, missing the cream of their batting either through injury or extra-regional playing commitments, were under siege from the two CCC spinners with connections to Port of Spain, and the match swung decisively when Kantasingh had Ramdin stumped for 17, and had Imran Khan caught close to the wicket for a first-ball duck. T&T were 94 for five, and there was token resistance only from the rest of the batting, as they lost their last seven wickets for 30 runs from 107 balls. This was the CCC’s second straight victory over T&T in this form of the game, following a 63-run triumph over the two-island republic in a home fixture at the Three Ws Oval in Barbados at the tail-end of last season.
In the second round, the CCC will fancy their chances against Barbados at Grove Park in Nevis, and T&T will have to make the most of the experimental day/night fixture against Guyana at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua to get their season back on track.
SCOREBOARD
COMBINED CAMPUSES & COLLEGES 1st Innings 234
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 1st Innings 107
COMBINED CAMPUSES & COLLEGES 2nd Innings
(overnight 105 for four)
O. Phillips not out 70
S. Jackson lbw b Rampaul 11
N. Parris lbw b Simmons 11
R. Currency c Rampaul b Khan 4
+C. Walton b Mohammed 13
*F. Reifer run out (Khan) 24
Extras (b4, lb5, nb6) 15
TOTAL (5 wkts decl’d, 52.2 overs) 148
Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-44, 3-69, 4-97, 5-148
Bowling: Rampaul 10.2-0-41-1, Kelly 4-0-10-0, Simmons 7-1-12-1, Emrit 6-3-16-0, Khan 7-1-13-1, Jaggernauth 15-3-36-0, Mohammed 3-0-11-1
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 2nd Innings (target: 276 runs)
L. Simmons c Phillips b Austin 18
J. Guillen c Phillips b Kantasingh 31
*D. Ganga c *Reifer b Kantasingh 6
S. Ganga b Bennett 20
+D. Ramdin st Walton b Kantasingh 17
I. Khan c Jackson b Kantasingh 0
R. Kelly c wkpr Walton b Bennett 4
R. Emrit lbw b Kantasingh 11
D. Mohammed st Walton b Austin 11
A. Jaggernauth b Kantasingh 1
R. Rampaul not out 0
Extras (lb1, nb4) 5
TOTAL (all out, 51.2 overs) 124
Fall of wickets: 1-46, 2-52, 3-62, 4-94, 5-94, 6-96, 7-101, 8-116, 9-124
Bowling: McClean 4-1-8-0, Bennett 9-2-20-2, Austin 16.2-6-40-2, Kantasingh 22-10-55-6
Result: CCC won by 151 runs
Points: CCC 12, T&T zero
Umpires: P. Gustard, M. Noble
