Trinidad win keeps Somerset alive

Champions League, Hyderabad: Trinidad & Tobago 149-7 (20 overs) beat Deccan Chargers 146-9 (20 overs) by three runs
Match scorecards from official website

Pollard starred with the bat, and in the field, for Trinidad & Tobago

Trinidad & Tobago beat Deccan Chargers in a thriller to put Somerset, the last English club left in the Champions League, into the Super Eights.

Brilliant batting from Adam Gilchrist (51 off 36 balls) and Venugopal Rao (30 from 19) left the Indian side needing 13 off the last 13 balls to win.

But Rao edged behind and Dwayne Bravo conceded just four runs from the final over as Deccan fell three runs short.

Kieron Pollard had earlier hit 31 from 14 balls to take Trinidad to 149-7.

Gilchrist, whose Indian Premier League champions are eliminated along with Sussex, Otago of New Zealand and Wayamba of Sri Lanka, had blazed six fours and two sixes as Deccan began their chase well.

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That was a thrilling match!

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But a perfectly judged diving catch by Pollard to remove Gilchrist allowed the West Indians to get back into the match.

And despite the efforts of Rao late on, Tirumalasetti Suman needed to hit the last ball of the match for four to force a one-over eliminator - and could only hit down the ground to long-off.

Impressive Trinidad take a 100% record into the last eight, along with New South Wales and Cape Cobras. Deccan, who have not managed a win in nine appearances in Hyderabad, became the only IPL team to crash out in the first round.

The other teams already through to the last eight of the Champions Trophy are Victoria, Sussex's conquerors Eagles, and the two other Indian sides - Bangalore and Delhi.

It's a very fine line. We just didn't do the basics right in both games, but particularly in this game

Adam Gilchrist

Bravo, who reinforced his reputation as one of the world's leading "death" bowlers - and had figures of 3-24 in all - said afterwards: "I believe in myself, the team believes in my ability to restrict the opposition.

"I knew just what I had to do, and did it. There is a lot that we can improve on - but as a unit, we are very good and we are looking to the next round.

"It was a great team effort, and we played very good cricket. We beat the IPL champions, and it's a great feeling for us."

Gilchrist, whose team had lost to Somerset when Alfonso Thomas hit a boundary off the last ball of the match, lamented: "It's disappointing to go out without even one victory, and to get so close a couple of times is frustrating.

"It's a very fine line. We just didn't do the basics right in both games, but particularly in this game."

League A: Trinidad & Tobago, Somerset, New South Wales, Eagles

League B: RC Bangalore, Cape Cobras, Delhi Daredevils, Victoria

Each team carries the points (if any) and run rate earned against the other team which also progressed from their group into the league stage.

Teams play each league opponents once, with top two in each group going through to semi-finals. The final is in Hyderabad on 23 October.