Barbados Tridents 136 for 9 (Parnell 44*, Shadab 2-13) beat Trinbago Knight Riders 120 for 9 (Parnell 3-31, Wahab 2-24) by 16 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Eoin Morgan was one of three batsmen run out in Tridents’ innings © Ashley Allen – CPL T20 / Getty
Wayne Parnell‘s terrific all-round display kept the Barbados Tridents’ miniscule play-off hopes alive in a 16-run win over table-toppers Trinbago Knight Riders at Kensington Oval. Parnell’s unbeaten 44 at No. 9 rescued Tridents from 62 for 7 in the 10th over. He followed his highest T20 score with figures of 3 for 31, along with an unofficial fourth wicket by virtue of felling Brendon McCullum with a blow to the left arm to wreck the Knight Riders chase.
Tridents’ win cut their deficit to two points behind Guyana Amazon Warriors for the final CPL play-off berth. However, Warriors’ net-run rate advantage is so colossal – it now stands at +1.239 after beginning the night at +1.409 – that victory by over 220 runs against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots on Sunday would be the only way the Barbados-based franchise could leapfrog to fourth.
Hero to zero
Dwayne Smith’s second ton of the season paved the way for a comfortable Tridents win over St Lucia Stars two nights earlier, but the opener departed for a second-ball duck after Dwayne Bravo sent Tridents in to bat, fending an edge off Anderson Phillip to Denesh Ramdin.
Kane Williamson fared little better as his forgettable debut-season in the CPL continued. The New Zealand captain prodded a flat-footed edge behind for 6, and has now failed to reach double-figures in more than half his innings this season, including zero fifties.
Nurse ratchets up the pressure
Offspinner Ashley Nurse had gone wicket-less in his first two CPL matches after coming on as a mid-season addition to the Knight Riders. However, he was still named in the West Indies T20I squad to face England later in the month and celebrated his recall with a wicket off his first ball, sucking Nicholas Pooran into an ill-advised slog to pick out long-off on the rope in the powerplay for 19. Two more wickets from Shadab Khan, along with a pair of runouts off poor calls to backward point, and the Tridents innings was looking grim at 62 for 7 in the 10th.
Wayne’s world
Tridents were in danger of being bowled out for double-digits for the second time in three matches when Parnell entered at No. 9, but the South African stirred the innings back to life with an unbeaten 44. It wasn’t the most glamorous knock, with several miscued shots finding their way into no man’s land, but he showed grit that the recognized batsmen lacked in the first half of the innings. His knock ensured he and his fellow bowlers had something to aim at.
Just as vital a contribution was Parnell’s new-ball spell which decimated the Knight Riders top-order, effectively leaving them 41 for 3. Parnell claimed Sunil Narine on the circle at mid-on before Colin Munro slogged a catch to deep square leg. Parnell then zinged Brendon McCullum in the left arm in the fifth over, causing a lengthy delay. McCullum faced one more ball but the pain reverberated as he played a shot and immediately signaled that he could no longer continue. Two balls after McCullum retired, Ravi Rampaul had Darren Bravo fending a short ball to backward point as the Tridents burrowed toward the tail.
Follow the leader
Not for the first time this season, Pollard produced a disciplined and inspired display with the ball, building on Parnell’s early spell to keep Knight Riders in check. Denesh Ramdin fell in the 10th – gloving a pull down the leg side to the keeper – while Shadab’s misguided charge resulted in another edge behind to Pooran.
Knight Riders were officially 92 for 7 after 16 but nearly pulled off a comeback when Parnell was swatted for 19 runs off the first five balls of the 17th over. But he cleaned up Nurse off the final ball of his spell and Javon Searles spliced a slog to short third man eight balls later for the final wicket as McCullum was unable to come back to resume his innings.
Peter Della Penna is ESPNcricinfo’s USA correspondent. @PeterDellaPenna
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo