Barbados Tridents lost their second successive match in the home leg of the 2018 edition of the Hero Caribbean Premier League when they were defeated by four wickets by Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) at Kensington Oval last night.
Chasing a total of 129 to win the match and go to the top of the points standings, the Knight Riders scored 130 for the loss of six wickets in 16.3 overs. Man of the Match Brendon McCullum top-scored with 66 from 42 balls.
Left-arm pacer Mohammad Irfan made batting tough for the Knight Riders with the early dismissals of openers Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine with their scores on 18 and 30 respectively. Even though those two early wickets brought hope to the thousands of Tridents fans in the Oval, the effort of the seven-foot Pakistani was not enough to pull off an unlikely victory for the Barbados- based franchise.
McCullum who was dropped on two after Jason Holder failed to hold a sharp catch off his own bowling, blasted his runs in 65 minutes from 42 balls. He struck eight fours and two sixes, and his innings was the key factor in ensuring the Tridents did not pull off an unlikely victory. He came to the crease with Knight Riders in a spot of trouble at 37 for three, after losing the wicket of their top batsman of the season, Colin Munro, who was bowled off the pad by off-spinner Ashley Nurse for 14 in the sixth over.
McCullum’s swashbuckling innings ended when he played a sweep and was caught and bowled by Steve Smith, but by then the score was 126 for six and TKR was within sight of victory.
Even though TKR was chasing a paltry total to win the match, the Tridents’ bowlers did their utmost to make the going tough for the batsman. When Darren Bravo miscued Raymon Reifer’s first ball of the match and was caught at deep midwicket by Dwayne Smith the Knight Riders were 60 for the loss of four wickets, and the Tridents’ fans began to dream of a remarkable victory by their team against the defending champions.
Their dreams might have become a reality if Smith (Dwayne) had accepted a simple catch at mid-wicket offered by Denesh Ramdin when on one, but the chance was not taken and Ramdin compiled 19 more runs and shared a vital fifth-wicket partnership of 66 with McCullum which killed any hope of a Tridents’ victory.
Ramdin’s wicket fell in the seventh over, he was caught by Wahab Riaz at deep midwicket off the bowling of medium pacer Shamar Springer for 20 but by then the result of the game was a foregone conclusion.
Earlier, the Tridents who had won the toss and decided to bat were placed on the back foot by left-arm spinner Kharry Pierre. A change was made at the top of the order with Shai Hope opening the batting with Dwayne Smith. Regular opener Martin Guptill who has been having a woeful season with the bat was left out of the team.
The 9000 estimated spectators at the Oval was stunned when in the second over of the innings Pierre yorked Smith with the first ball of the over, the Tridents troubles had begun at three runs on the scoreboard, they got deeper when Springer (Shamar) batting at number three was run out looking for a single to get off the mark.
Pierre inflicted a vital body blow into the heart of the Tridents’ batting with the fourth ball of the over. He drew Steve Smith out of his crease with a ball that dipped before it spun sharply past the outside edge of the bat and the Australian was stumped by Ramdin. Three wickets had fallen in the second over leaving the Tridents and their fans in a dark mood on a bright Sunday afternoon with the score on three runs for the same number of wickets.
Hope who top-scored with 42 and Nicholas Pooran (34) repaired the damage with an enterprising 70-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Hope’s runs were made in his usual stylish manner, he faced 34 balls and struck five fours, while Pooran was in his typical aggressive manner. The left-handed batsman faced 21 balls, he stroked three fours and cleared the boundary on two occasions, and was the only batsman to do so during the Tridents’ inning.
Hope and Pooran appeared to be taking the Tridents to a respectable total when the left-handed batsman was bowled by Dwayne Bravo, at that stage, the Tridents were 73 for four. Seventeen runs later leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed removed Hope, the score was 90 for five and the die was cast for the Tridents. Holder scored 30 from 33 balls but the captain’s effort was not enough to give his team a competitive score.
The Tridents’ next match is against the Jamaica Tallawahs on Wednesday night.
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