Chennai, Oct 4: Trinidad & Tobago, whose matches have become synonymous with last-ball finishes, beat Cape Cobras by two wickets in the penultimate match of Group A of the Nokia CLT20 2011 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium today. The result means Cape Cobras have been eliminated from the race to the semi-finals; the two semi-finalists will only be identified after the match between Chennai Super Kings and New South Wales Blues coming up at the same venue at 8 pm IST.

Chasing 138, Trinidad and Tobago never got any kind of momentum going. The 35-run partnership between Darren Bravo and Adrian Barath for the third wicket was the only time when the club from the Caribbean looked like making a match of it. Justin Kemp’s dismissals of Barath and Daren Ganga off consecutive deliveries meant the match was firmly in Cape Cobras’ clutches at the halfway stage.

However, all that changed when Kevon Cooper arrived on the scene with his team needing 35 from 20 balls. The 22-year-old struck 25 off 10 balls and guided his team to a stunning two-wicket win with two balls to spare.

Cooper, who had also starred in his team’s win over Chennai Super Kings, scored 10 runs off the penultimate over bowled by Dale Steyn; he even hit the fast bowler for a massive six to change the equation to nine runs needed off the final over. Though Ravi Rampaul perished off the first delivery of the final over, he’d ensured Cooper was on strike; the all-rounder finished the match off with Sunil Narine.

Despite having dominated close to 38 overs of the match, the Cape Cobras had to accept defeat. Steyn, whose first spell read 3-1-3-1, went for 15 runs off his final over, while the experienced Charl Langeveldt went for 32 runs in his 3.4 overs. Rory Kleinveldt and Robin Peterson were the other wicket-takers for the club from South Africa.

Earlier in the afternoon, the side from the Cobras posted a challenging 137 for four in their allotted 20 overs. Despite opting to bat first, the Pro20 winners got off to a disastrous start, losing both their openers very early in the innings. But wicketkeeper Dane Vilas and Owais Shah put the innings back on track through a 87-run partnership for the third wicket.

Though conditions weren’t any close to being batsmen-friendly, both Vilas and Shah ensured the scoreboard kept ticking. Their partnership, that lasted 11.1 overs, featured only 18 dot balls. Shah, who remained unbeaten at the end, was the more enterprising of the two as he hit six boundaries and a six in his 50-ball 63, while Vilas scored seven boundaries in his 44-ball 54. The on-side was the favoured scoring area for both the batsmen; over 70% of their runs came on that side of the wicket.

For Trinidad and Tobago, barring the expensive Sherwin Ganga, the bowlers delivered what was asked of them; Samuel Badree struck in the second ball of the match, while Ravi Rampaul, Sunil Narine and Kevon Cooper all picked up wickets and didn’t offer too many loose deliveries.

Brief score:Cape Cobras 137/4 (Owais Shah 63*, Dane Vilas 54, Sunil Narine 1-19, Samuel Badree 1-19) lost to Trinidad & Tobago 138/8 in 19.4 Overs (Darren Bravo 29, Kevon Cooper 25*, Justin Kemp 3-22)

Man-of-the-Match: Kevon Cooper, for his match-winning cameo of 25 from 11 balls that earned his team a two-wicket win