Saturday 19th July 2014 – St. John’s, Antigua
Barbados Tridents (173-5) beat Antigua Hawksbills (172-6) by 5 wickets, with 4 balls remaining
The runs flowed in the Limacol Caribbean Premier League match between
Antigua Hawksbills and Barbados Tridents, with the number three batsmen for
both sides making significant contributions. Marlon Samuels top
scored with 84 off 54 balls, but it was not enough to prevent his team’s third
defeat in the tournament as the Antiguans' innings lost momentum in the face of
some excellent death bowling from Ravi Rampaul. Instead it was Pakistan’s,
Shoaib Malik, who played the match winning innings - his 72 runs seeing the
Tridents to victory.
The Hawksbills started slowly with Danza Hyatt struggling to give his
team any momentum, especially against the spin of Akeal Hosein. The slow left
armer could have picked up the wicket of Hyatt in his first over when he failed
to hold a relatively simple caught and bowled chance. Hosein’s next over saw
Hyatt play out a maiden over as he couldn't find a way to get off strike. This
pedestrian beginning to the innings was ended with Hyatt’s departure when he
fell to Ravi Rampaul, bowled by a ball that kept low that he should have come
forward to.
The arrival of the Hawksbills captain Samuels changed things as he
wasted no time in increasing the scoring rate. He put together a partnership of
83 with Australian Ben Dunk, but Samuels was very much the main contributor
scoring 58 of those runs. The most striking of the shots that Samuels played
was a short arm pull off Rayad Emrit that disappeared over straight long off
for six.
Samuels' innings was not without fortune. He should have been run out on
48 when he attempted a high risk run and was sent back by his partner. He would
have been five yards short of his crease, but instead two overthrows brought up
his fifty. He may have departed on 59 when a ball he edged off the bowling of
Kieron Pollard fell agonisingly short of the wicket keeper.
The Tridents' big fast bowler Jason Holder was the man that took most of
the punishment, his third over proving his most expensive, going for 17 runs as
David Hussey hit him for two fours and a six. Ravi Rampaul also came in for
some tap, with his penultimate over going for 20 runs. This was followed by an
excellent final over of his spell, where he picked up three wickets for just
two runs, dismissing both Samuels and the well set David Hussey. But for this
excellent bowling at the death, the Tridents could well have been chasing
closer to 200 rather than the 173 they were set. Ultimately this low scoring
end to the Hawksbills innings was the difference between the two teams.
From the very start of their innings, the visitors seemed to have this
chase under control. Barbados Tridents openers, Shane Dowrich and Dwayne Smith,
both got away to flying starts in an attempt to break the back of this target
in the power play. Dowrich was bowled by the pacey Sheldon Cottrell, while
Smith was brilliantly caught at third man by Miguel Cummins.
Pakistani overseas player, Shoaib Malik, took over where the openers had
left off, even matching Samuels amazing pulled six over long off with one of
his own. He paced his innings perfectly, as the Hawksbills struggled to exert
any control over the visitors. Only veteran wrist spinner Brad Hogg found a way
to check the scoring, as his wily googlies and leg spinners went for 28 runs
off his four overs.
Malik was ably supported in his efforts, first by Jeevan Mendis and then
Kieron Pollard as the Tridents completed the victory with four balls to spare.
When Pollard fell in the 17th over to a ball that would have been
called wide but which he edged behind, there would have been some concern for
the Tridents that they would fall short. Those worries would have intensified
when Malik was run out going for an ill judged two. Jason Holder had other
ideas as he hit two sixes to finish the game, including the winning runs which
were hit over the rope off Cottrell.
ENDS
About the Caribbean
Premier League:
Caribbean Premier League is a franchise-based T20
format cricket tournament that combines two of the most compelling aspects of Caribbean life – dramatic cricket and a vibrant Carnival
atmosphere. The inaugural CPL, billed as “the Biggest Party in Sport”
featured six teams competing throughout the region in August 2013 – Jamaica
Tallawahs, The Red Steel, Barbados Tridents, Guyana Amazon Warriors, St. Lucia
Zouks, Antigua Hawksbills. The Jamaica Tallawahs, captained by Chris
Gayle, emerged as champions.
CPL 2014 takes place from July 11th to
August 16th 2014.
No comments:
Post a Comment