Tridents lose plot at the death to gift Kings XI victory

MOHALI, India, CMC – Experienced seamer Ravi Rampaul leaked 20 runs from the penultimate over of the innings as Barbados Tridents launched their Champions League Twenty20 campaign on a losing note, with a disappointing four-wicket defeat to Kings XI Punjab here yesterday.

With Kings XI requiring 25 runs from the last two overs in pursuit of 175 for victory, Rampaul’s wastefulness proved costly, as it eased the pressure considerably and gifted the Indian Premier League giants an easy win with two balls to spare at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium.

Rampaul got his lengths wrong on the first two balls and watched as Akshar Patel, who finished 23 not out off just nine balls, belted the first ball to the long-on boundary and the second over cover with the same result.

Kings XI could only manage singles from the next two balls but Patel capitalised on the fifth ball – another length delivery – getting a thick outside edge to the third man boundary.

With 14 already off the over, Rampaul needed to finish well but instead bowled short only for Patel to oblige with a hook that carried over square leg for six.

Needing five from the last over, Kings XI were kept quiet off the first three balls by lanky seamer Jason Holder before Man-of-the-Match David Miller slammed the fourth delivery off long-off for six, to finish the game in style.

Miller finished on 46 not out from 34 balls with three fours and two sixes, and added an invaluable 47 off 19 balls with Patel who hit three fours and a six.

Virender Sehwag weighed in with 31 off 25 balls in a 41-run opening stand with Manan Vohra who got 27 from 19 deliveries.

Leg-spinner Jeevan Mendis was the best Tridents bowler with two for 18 while Rampaul also picked up two wickets but was expensive in giving up 50 runs from his four overs.

Playing in their first ever CLT20 match, Tridents never seem daunted as they rattled up 174 for six off their 20 overs, after they were sent in.

They were carried by a classy unbeaten 60 off 42 deliveries from left-handed Raymon Reifer while opener Dilshan Munaweera, in his first game for Tridents, scored exactly 50 off 26 balls.

Seamer Parvinder Awana took three for 46 while medium pacer Thisara Perera supported with two for 18.

Munaweera, in partnership with William Perkins, gave Tridents a flying start helping to add 51 off 31 deliveries for the first wicket.

The right-hander struck five fours and three sixes and was into stride from as early as the opening over, finding the cover boundary with seamer Anureet Singh before clearing the straight boundary next ball.

Perkins then twice found the boundary in the next over from Awana which cost 14 runs and Munaweera kept up the tempo when he smashed the fourth ball of left-arm spinner Patel’s first over to the straight boundary before clearing the long-on ropes with the next delivery.

Perkins perished for ten off the first ball of the next over, the sixth of the innings, when he missed a swing and was lbw to Awana.

Dropped in the deep on 46 three balls later, Munaweera completed his half-century of the next ball with a boundary to fine leg but survived just one more ball before pulling to short-midwicket where Vohra held a sharp chance at 61 for two in the sixth over.

Reifer and Carter, who scored 20, put on 45 for the third wicket to repair the innings and lay the foundation for the eventual score.

SCOREBOARD

BARBADOS TRIDENTS
D Munaweera c Vohra b Awana                  50
+W Perkins lbw b Awana                      10
R Reifer not out                          60
J Carter c Miller b Anureet Singh                  20
J Franklin c Awana b Perera                  10
E Chigumbura c Anureet Singh b Perera                3
J Holder c Miller b Awana                  12
A Nurse not out                            8
Extras (lb1)                            1
TOTAL (6 wkts, 20 overs)                174
Did not bat: J Mendis, *R Emrit, R Rampaul
Fall of wickets: 1-54 (Perkins, 5.1 overs), 2-61 (Munaweera, 6), 3-106 (Carter, 12.1), 4-124 (Franklin, 14.4), 5-131 (Chigumbura, 16.2), 6-159 (Holder, 19.1)
Bowling: Anureet Singh 4-0-32-1, Awana 4-0-46-3, Patel 4-0-42-0, Maxwell 3-0-22-0, Sehwag 1-0-10-0, Karanveer Singh 1-0-6-0, Perera 3-0-15-2.

KINGS XI PUNJAB
V Sehwag lbw b Mendis                      31
M Vohra c Carter b Rampaul                  27
+W Saha c Munaweera b Franklin                  14
G Maxwell c Nurse b Rampaul                  16
D Miller not out                          46
*G Bailey c Franklin b Mendis                    7
T Perera c Carter b Nurse                        0
A Patel not out                          23
Extras (b4, lb2, w6, nb2)                      14
TOTAL (6 wkts, 19.4 overs)                178
Did not bat: Karanveer Singh, P Awana, Anureet Singh
Fall of wickets: 1-41 (Vohra, 3.4 overs), 2-76 (Saha, 8), 3-95 (Maxwell, 10), 4-103 (Sehwag, 11.5), 5-127 (Bailey, 15.5), 6-131 (Perera, 16.3)
Bowling: Holder 3.4-0-38-0 (w3), Rampaul 4-0-50-2 (w2, nb2), Emrit 2-0-17-0, Franklin 2-0-17-1 (w1), Mendis 4-0-18-2, Nurse 4-0-32-1.
Result: Kings XI Punjab won by four wickets.
Points: Kings XI Punjab 4, Barbados Tridents 0.
Man-of-the-Match: David Miller.
Toss: Kings XI Punjab
Umpires: Billy Bowden, S Ravi; TV – Rod Tucker.