There was quite a show at the Queen's Park Oval on Friday night. It was called "A Tale of Two Navins", starring Navin Stewart.

A character who threatens to be bowler and batsman, Stewart first is cast as a villain when he concedes 21 runs in the final over of the opposition's innings to leave the home fans in a funk. Then in the very last over of the game, in which he is now batsman, he makes himself the hero.

So it was for Stewart when another instalment of Trinidad and Tobago versus Barbados took place at the "Asia versus the Caribbean" Twenty20 series.

T&T entered last night's final round of matches needing a good win against Bangladesh to have any hopes of pipping the Asians on net run rate and claiming the US$50,000 prizemoney.

That they had such an opportunity was due to their five-wicket win, off the last ball Friday night.

Left-hander Evin Lewis' pleasing knock of 69 off 60 balls–the innings of the tournament up to then perhaps--was key to T&T eventually reaching the 155 needed for victory. But 14 runs were still required when Johnathan Carter was given the ball for that final over by his captain Kirk Edwards.

Stewart and his own skipper Rayad Emrit were fresh at the crease, Lewis and Justin Guillen (16)–who posted 54 together–losing their wickets in the space of three balls between the end of the 18th over and the second ball of the 19th.

Momentum had shifted Barbados' way. But Emrit set the tone first ball of the 20th. Getting inside his stumps, he helped Carter over the ropes backward of square to immediately shave six runs off the target. Eight more were needed, then seven when he took a single next ball.

Stewart was in the spotlight now.

Perhaps the memory of his own expensive last over with the ball against Kyle Mayers was on his mind. But Stewart, a man of great emotion, controlled himself at the right time to save T&T's night.

Kneeling at his crease between every ball, and clenching his right fist after every run, he engaged in subtraction, a small but enthralled crowd counting down with him as Stewart got two, two, and two off balls three four and five. He did so with well placed shots, crucially fighting the urge to swing wildly for the hills.

But when it came to the last act, and Edwards brought the field in, Navin went for it, his flail to vacant third man stopping before the boundary on the sodden outfield. It didn't matter as one was all T&T needed. Carter, whose own half-century had made him a candidate for game hero, seemed inconsolable, chastened to the core that he had conceded those 14 runs. But Stewart was running around, bat in the air, energy still to burn.

This was a match where you could take your pick at things to admire or cringe at.

For Barbados, left-hander Carter's 54 (39 balls, four fours, two sixes) was the bedrock of their 154 for five. And Mayers' 23 off eight balls at the death was the exclamation mark. But Kemar Roach, like Shannon Gabriel the night before, was removed from the attack for two over-the-waist deliveries in his final over. Seemed to lose his grip on the ball.

For T&T, the second wicket stand of 68 between Lewis and opener Adrian Barath (32, 27 balls, one four, two sixes) was good to watch, Lewis' sweet timing and fluent play especially.

But things were not so good at the start.

Sloppy in the field at crucial times in their first match against Afghanistan, T&T were even moreso in the field Friday night, especially in the opening overs of the Barbados innings, after Edwards had won the toss and chose to bat.

The Barbados skipper himself escaped being run out off the first ball of the match bowled by Emrit. Ten runs came in that over. Edwards also escaped being run out in the second over. In the third, delivered by Stewart, the exasperated bowler conceded five runs off one ball, via four overthrows.

The untidy beginning however, did not prevent T&T from removing Edwards cheaply when the struggling West Indies batsman had his stumps spread-eagled as he aimed a flat-footed drive in the same Stewart over.

That wicket would be Stewart's happiest moment of the innings. And overall, the T&T bowlers did not enjoy themselves in the damp conditions.

Only young Yannick Ottley, coming into the side as one of two replacements for the injured Kevon Copper and the dropped Gabriel, could claim satisfaction with his four overs. Given the chance to open the bowling with his skipper, the neat left-arm spinner collected one wicket–opener Omar Phillips–for 13 runs.

Off-spinner Sherwin Ganga got a wicket, in his first over too--Sharmarh Brooks in the 10th over. But Sherwin paid quite a high price for that success. By the end of his fourth and final over, he had conceded a whopping 47 runs, Emrit choosing this night not to use Jason Mohammed. Ganga suffered at the hands of topscorer Carter, the left-hander favouring the leg-side boundaries and finding them.

Carter, in tandem with Shai Hope (37, 34 balls, two fours) put on 81 for the fourth wicket, staying together until the penultimate over when Carter was run out. And it was only a superb bit of judgement and execution by team veteran Daren Ganga, running back from extra cover, that removed Hope via a catch, Emrit being the bowler.

While Barbados had wickets in hand, the runs on the board would have been less than they would have wanted at 133 for four when Emrit finished his spell. He and Stewart had checked the Bajan advance over the previous two overs. But Stewart lost the plot in over No.20.

By over No.40, however, Navin had re-written the script.

QP OVAL SCOREBOARD T&T vs Barbados Barbados Inns O Phillips b Ottley.......................................................16 K Edwards b Stewart...................................................5 S Brooks c Guillen b S.Ganga...................................16 S Hope c D.Ganga b Emrit........................................37 J Carter run out..........................................................54 K Mayers not out........................................................23 A Nurse not out.............................................................3 EXTRAS: (W1, NB2).....................................................3 TOTAL: (for five wkts, 20 overs)...............................154 Wickets: 21 (Edwards), 21 (Phillips), 48 (Brooks), 129 (Hope), 148 (Carter) BOWLING: Emrit 4-0-28-1 (1w), Ottley 4-0-13-1, Stewart 4-0-39-1, D.Mohammed 4-0-27-0, S.Ganga 4-0-47-1 T&T Inns W Perkins c Holder b Hinds..........................................7 A Barath b Hinds........................................................32 E Lewis b Carter........................................................67 J Guillen b Nurse........................................................16 J Mohammed run out....................................................8 N Stewart not out..........................................................8 R Emrit not out.............................................................7 EXTRAS: (W11, NB2).................................................13 TOTAL: (for five wkts, 20 overs)...............................155 Wickets at: 15 (Perkins), 83 (Barath), 137 (Lewis), 139 (Guillen), 141 (J.Mohammed) BOWLING: Hinds 4-0-29-2 (6w), Roach 3.5-0-29-0, Nurse 4-0-22-1 (3w), Holder 3-0-33-0 (1w), Mayers 2-0-11-0, Carter 3.1-0-29-1 (1w) Result: T&T won by five wickets T&T 2 pts, Barbados 0