Big win for Barbados Tridents

From woeful to wonderful!

That’s perhaps the best way to put in perspective the scenario, which unfolded at Kensington Oval last night as Barbados Tridents ended an eight-match losing streak at the much-cherished venue in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

Jason Holder’s team beat Trinbago Knight Riders by 63 runs before an excited crowd of around 6 000 to not only register their first CPL win at Kensington since September 2, 2017 (by 16 runs against Trinbago Knight Riders as well) but also lift their chances of advancing to the play-offs.

It was the third win in seven matches for Barbados Tridents, carrying them to fourth position on six points. Wins in two of their three remaining matches will ensure a place in the play-offs. They oppose St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots at Kensington Oval tomorrow, starting at 8 p.m., then St. Lucia Zouks at the same venue on Sunday at 6 o’ clock before clashing with Trinbago Knight Riders next Wednesday at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad.

JP Duminy starred in Barbados Tridents’ win last night.

After last evening’s match, the points table showed (with matches in brackets): Guyana Amazon Warriors 14 (7), Trinbago Knight Riders 9 (7), St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots 8 (9), Barbados Tridents 6 (7), St. Lucia Zouks 5 (8) and Jamaica Tallawahs 4 (8).

There were a few truly fascinating performances from Barbados Tridents players last evening. After Johnson Charles (58 off 39 balls with eight fours) and left-hander Jonathan Carter (51 off 46 balls, five fours and one six) had set the stage with a first wicket partnership of 110 in 13.5 overs, Jean-Paul Duminy, the vastly experienced 35-year-old South African thrilled all and sundry with amazing strokes in recording the fastest ever half-century in the history of the CPL.

Left-hander Duminy raced to 50 in only 15 balls, breaking Evin Lewis’ record of 17 balls for St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots against Jamaica Tallawahs at Warner Park in St. Kitts on September 10 when he went on to score 53 off 18 balls as his team won by four wickets chasing 242.

Duminy made 65 off 20 balls with seven sixes and four fours after the score had slipped to 116 for three off 15 overs. He virtually single-handedly dominated a fourth wicket stand of 68 in just 4.2 overs with Ashley Nurse, who made five not out off 11 deliveries as Barbados Tridents amassed 192 for five off 20 overs.

Then leg-spinner Hayden Walsh Jr snatched five for 19 off four overs and also took a fine catch at point as Trinbago Knight Riders were dismissed for 129 in 17.4 overs.

Duminy picked up two for 24 off 2.4 overs and along with an excellent running catch in the deep overhead to get rid of a potentially dangerous Colin Munro off left-arm medium-pacer Raymon Reifer for 23 off 13 balls, was named Player-of-the-Match.

Significantly, the nature of franchise cricket shows major changes to the teams, which featured in the match on September 2, 2017 and last evening. (See below summarised scores of that match and last night’s, as well as the eight matches the Tridents lost on the trot at the same venue).

The 2017 Barbados Tridents team was Kieron Pollard (captain), Dwayne Smith, Nicholas Pooran, Kane Williamson, Eoin Morgan, Christopher Barnwell, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Springer, Wayne Parnell, Wahab Riaz, Ravi Rampaul.

Trinbago Knight Riders fielded Dwayne Bravo (captain), Sunil Narine, Colin Munro, Brendan McCullum, Darren Bravo, Denesh Ramdin, Shadab Khan, Robert Frylinck, Javon Searles, Ashley Nurse, Anderson Phillip.

Last evening, the teams were:

Barbados Tridents – Jason Holder (captain), Johnson Charles, Jonathan Carter, Jean-Paul Duminy, Alex Hales, Ashley Nurse, Raymon Reifer, Justin Greaves, Roshon Primus, Hayden Walsh Jr, Harry Gurney.

Trinbago Knight Riders – Kieron Pollard (captain), Sunil Narine, Lendl Simmons, Colin Munro, Denesh Ramdin, Darren Bravo, James Neesham, Seekkuge Prasanna, Khary Pierre, Anderson Phillip, Ali Khan.

The scores in 2017 were: Barbados Tridents 136-9 (20 overs) (Wayne Parnell 44 not out, Shamar Springer 21, Nicholas Pooran 19, Kieron Pollard 17; Shadab Khan 2-13).

Trinbago Knight Riders 120 all out (18.2 overs) (Javon Searles 29, Brendon McCullum 26 retired hurt, Dwayne Bravo 22; Wayne Parnell 3-31, Wahab Riaz 2-24, Kieron Pollard 2-26).

Player-of-the-Match: Wayne Parnell.

Toss: Trinbago Knight Riders.

September 26, 2019: Barbados Tridents 192-5 (20 overs) (Jean-Paul Duminy 65, Johnson Charles 58, Jonathan Carter 51; Khary Pierre 2-24, Kieron Pollard 2-38).

Trinbago Knight Riders 129 all out (17.4 overs)(Darren Bravo 28, Colin Munro 23, Sunil Narine 19, Lendl Simmons 11; Hayden Walsh 5-19, Jean-Paul Duminy 2-24).

Player Of The Match: Jean-Paul Duminy.

Toss: Barbados Pride.

Following are the summarised scores for the eight matches, which Barbados Tridents lost in succession at Kensington Oval between 2017 and 2019:

2017 

September 3: Lost to St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots by 10 wickets (with 78 balls remaining).

Barbados Tridents 128-9 (20 overs)(Tion Webster 32, Nicholas Pooran 21, Dwayne Smith 17, Kane Williamson 14, Wayne Parnell 13 not out; Carlos Brathwaite 4-15, Tabraiz Shamsi 2-14).

St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots 129-0 (7 overs)(Evin Lewis 97 not out, Chris Gayle 22 not out).

Player Of The Match: Evin Lewis.

Toss: St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots.

2018

August 25: Lost to St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots by 6 wickets (with 7 balls remaining).

Barbados Tridents 147-6 (20 overs)(Jason Holder 54, Shai Hope 26, Dwayne Smith 20, Martin Guptil 19; Benjamin Cutting 2-18, Anton Devcich 2-25).

St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots 148-4 (18.5 overs) (Brandon King 60, Devon Thomas 32, Benjamin Cutting 29 not out, Tom Cooper 13 not out; Mohammad Irfan 2-1).

Player Of The Match: Mohammad Irfan.

Toss: St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots.

August 26: Lost to Trinbago Knight Riders by 4 wickets (with 21 balls remaining).

Barbados Tridents 128-8 (20 overs)(Shai Hope 42, Nicholas Pooran 34, Jason Holder 30, Raymon Reifer 10; Fawad Ahmed 2-13, Dwayne Bravo 2-23, Khary Pierre 2-29).

Trinbago Knight Riders 130-6 (16.3 overs) (Brendon McCullum 66, Denesh Ramdin 20, Colin Munro 14, Sunil Narine 13; Mohammad Irfan 2-24).

Player Of The Match: Brendon McCullum.

Toss: Barbados Tridents.

August 29: Lost to Jamaica Tallawahs by 5 wickets (with 16 balls remaining).

Barbados Tridents 151-9 (20 overs)(Martin Guptill 73, Imran Khan 20, Ashley Nurse 20; Oshane Thomas 2-22).

Jamaica Tallawahs 153-5 (17.2 overs)(Johnson Charles 53, Rovman Powell 35, Chris de Grandhomme 15 not out, David Miller 14, Andre Russell 10; Wahab Riaz 2-27).

Player Of The Match: Johnson Charles.

Toss: Jamaica Tallawahs.

August 31: Lost to Guyana Amazon Warriors by 8 wickets (with 20 balls remaining).

Barbados Tridents 165-7 (20 overs)(Nicholas Pooran 46, Steven Smith 40, Shai Hope 34, Dwayne Smith 28; Imran Tahir 2-21, Sohail Tanvir 2-28, Roshon Primus 2-30).

Guyana Amazon Warriors 168-2 (16.4 overs) (Luke Ronchi 67, Chadwick Walton 43, Shimron Hetmyer 30, Cameron Delport 14 not out).

Player Of The Match: Luke Ronchi.

Toss: Guyana Amazon Warriors.

September 2: Lost to St. Lucia Stars by 6 wickets (with 15 balls remaining).

Barbados Tridents 135-7 (20 overs)(Hashim Amla 35, Shamar Springer 17, Dwayne Smith 16, Nicholas Pooran 14, Ashley Nurse 14 not out, Imran Khan 12 not out; Christopher Lamont 2-21, Obed McCoy 2-24, Kesrick Williams 2-32).

St. Lucia Stars 136-4 (17.3 overs)(David Warner 42 not out, Chandrapaul Hemraj 37, Lendl Simmons 24 not out, Rakheem Cornwall 18; Mohammad Irfan 2-22, Jason Holder 2-25).

Player Of The Match: Christopher Lamont.

Toss: St. Lucia Stars.

2019

September 22: Lost to Guyana Amazon Warriors by 12 runs (D/L method).

Barbados Tridents 138 all out (19.2 overs) (Jean-Paul Duminy 38, Alex Hales 24, Johnson Charles 11, Justin Greaves 1, Ashley Nurse 11, Raymon Reifer 11, Joshua Lalor 10 not out; Chris Green 4-14, Imran Tahir 2-22).

Guyana Amazon Warriors 81-2 (11 overs) (NB: Revised target of 70 from 11 overs) (Brandon King 51 not out, Chandrapaul Hemraj 20).

Player Of The Match: Chris Green.

Toss: Guyana Amazon Warriors.

September 23: Lost to Jamaica Tallawahs by 5 runs.

Jamaica Tallawahs 127 all out (20 overs) (Glenn Phillips 41, Ramaal Lewis 27, Chadwick Walton 13, Imrah Khan 10; Sandeep Lamichhane 2-17, Jason Holder 2-21, Raymon Reifer 2-31).

Barbados Tridents 122-9 (20 overs)(Johnson Charles 31, Raymon Reifer 26, Jonathan Carter 17, Alex Hales 16; Imran Khan 3-19, Shamar Springer 3-32, Dwayne Smith 2-22).

Player Of The Match: Shamar Springer.

Toss: Barbados Tridents.   

Keith Holder is a veteran,
award-winning freelance sports journalist, who has been covering local, regional and International cricket since 1980 as a writer and commentator. He has compiled statistics on the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) Division 1
(now Elite) Championship for over three-and-a-half decades and is responsible for editing the BCA website (www.bcacricket.org).
Email: Keithfholder@gmail.com