Defending champs Tridents make winning start

DEFENDING champions Barbados Tridents made a winning start with a six-run victory over St Kitts and Nevis Patriots on the opening day of the 2020 Hero Caribbean Premier League T20 tournament, at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, in Tarouba, on Tuesday.

Tridents scored 153/9 in 20 overs, then restricted Patriots to 147/5 in reply.

It is a different CPL with no fans and the entire tournament being held in Trinidad, but Sheldon Cottrell's celebrations remain the same. He was saluting in his first over as the left-arm pacer bowled Johnson Charles (four) and got another when Corey Anderson (duck) struck the ball straight to Evin Lewis at point. Tridents were 8/3 in the third over as Shai Hope was out for three when he skied a delivery to Lewis in the covers to give Sohail Tanvir his first scalp.

Kyle Mayers did not pay attention to the scoreboard as he played positively as Tridents raced to 30/3 after five overs after being 9/3 after three overs. Tridents captain Jason Holder also played confidently as Tridents recovered to reach 69/3 after seven overs.

The 61-run partnership was broken when Mayers was caught on the cover boundary by Jahmar Hamilton to give Patriots captain Rayad Emrit the wicket. Mayers scored 37 off 20 balls which included two fours and three sixes. The next ball it was 69/5 after 7.3 overs when Jonathan Carter was run out by Lewis. Raymon Reifer was next to go as Tridents were in all sorts of trouble on 79/6 in the tenth over. Lower order resistance led by Holder and Rashid Khan pushed Tridents to a respectable 153/9 in 20 overs. Holder top-scored with 38 off 22 balls with two fours and three sixes. Khan, more known for his ability as a spinner, contributed 26 not out. Khan found an able partner in Hayden Walsh as the pair put on 25 unbroken runs for the last wicket.

Cottrell and Emrit both ended with 2/16 in their four-over spells and Tanvir grabbed 2/25 in his four.

Patriots made a stuttering start in the run chase getting to 39/2 in the seventh over, before Ben Dunk and Joshua Da Silva combined to put on 50 for the third wicket. Dunk was the aggressor as he slammed a four and a six in one over off Reifer as Patriots were well poised on 73/2 after ten overs. Da Silva was happy to push the singles and give Dunk the strike.

Dunk was dismissed with the score on 89 in the 13th over when he was caught by long on fielder Kyle Mayers to give Mitchell Santner the wicket. Dunk made 34 off 21 and counted three fours and a six.

Da Silva, who started playing a few more shots, was joined by Denesh Ramdin as the pair pushed the score to 109/3 after 15 overs. The match was now hanging in the balance with Patriots needing 45 off 30 deliveries.

Ramdin and Da Silva struggled to score boundaries consistently as the Patriots required 31 off 18 balls to win the match. Ramdin was brilliantly caught by Hayden Walsh on the boundary and the next delivery Khan bowled Jahmar Hamilton for duck to swing the match in the Tridents favour.

Needing 28 off 12 balls, Patriots fell short.

SUMMARISED SCORES

Barbados Tridents 153/9 (20 overs) (Jason Holder 38, Kyle Mayers 37, Rashid Khan 26 not out; Sheldon Cottrell 2/16, Rayad Emrit 2/16, Sohail Tanvir 2/25) vs St Kitts and Nevis Patriots 147/5 (20 overs) (Joshua Da Silva 41 not out, Ben Dunk 34; Mitchell Santner 2/18, Rashid Khan 2/27) Tridents won by six runs