Tridents snatch tense win as Tallawahs lose third straight

All-rounder Raymon Reifer exclaims during a tense final over against Jamaica Tallawahs on Wednesday night. (Photo courtesy CPL T20)
All-rounder Raymon Reifer exclaims during a tense final over against Jamaica Tallawahs on Wednesday night. (Photo courtesy CPL T20)

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida, CMC – Left-arm seamer Raymon Reifer produced a magnificent final over as Barbados Tridents overcame a below-par batting effort and five dropped catches to beat Jamaica Tallawahs by two runs and win their second match of the Caribbean Premier League here Wednesday night.

Defending what appeared to be an inadequate 156 at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium, Tridents seemed headed defeat when the hosts motored to 80 without loss in the 10th over with openers Johnson Charles stroking a top score of 42 and Glenn Phillips hitting 36.

When three wickets fell for 20 runs, Ross Taylor (26 not out) and David Miller (25 not out) combined in a half-century stand which left Tallawahs needing just nine runs from the last over.

Reifer held Taylor to a single off the first ball before Miller belted three runs to square leg to reduce the target to five from four balls.

But with the odds squarely against Tridents, Reifer kept Taylor scoreless off the third ball and allowed only a single to deep cover off the fourth.

Miller then swung and missed the penultimate delivery of the match and with four runs required from the last ball, the left-handed South African could only tug a full length ball to long on, leaving the Tallawahs agonisingly short of their target.

The defeat was the third on the trot for Tallawahs after they won their first three while Tridents captured their second in three outings, and now head to Bridgetown for five home games.

Australian star Steve Smith had earlier top-scored with a fine 63 off 44 deliveries while elegant stroke-maker Shai Hope chipped in with 43 as Tridents raised 156 for six off their 20 overs after being sent in.

The pair put on 103 for the third wicket to drag Tridents out of trouble at 37 for three in the sixth over after openers Dwayne Smith (18) and Hashim Amla (15), along with New Zealander Martin Guptill (0) had all perished within the space of 10 balls with three runs added.

Smith, who has been in good touch, then struck five fours and three sixes while Hope, with a half-century in Tridents’ opening game, counted two fours and three sixes off 35 deliveries.

Captain Andre Russell, who finished with two for 32, ended the stand when he forced Hope to play on in the 18th over after drying up the scoring and Smith fell in a disappointing final over for Tridents, also bowled by Russell, which yielded just four runs.

Charles and Phillips then threatened to take the game away quickly, adding 80 off 55 balls, leaving Tridents struggling for a foothold.

The right-handed Charles, who smashed five successive fours in the third over from fast bowler Jason Holder, gained a reprieve when he was put down on 29 by off-spinner Ashley Nurse off a return catch in the sixth over.

He had faced 32 balls and struck six fours and six when he became the first of two Smith (2-19) wickets in the 10th over, caught on the ropes at mid-wicket by Guptill.

Phillips followed four balls later, caught at the wicket after striking four fours and a couple of sixes off 24 deliveries.

Kennar Lewis struck two sixes in 17 off 16 balls before nicking a heave at Mohammed Irfan behind and though Taylor and Miller came together in a 54-run, unbroken fourth wicket stand, they never found any real acceleration as the partnership needed 43 balls.

Taylor soaked up 28 balls for his knock and Miller, 20, as Tridents strangled the innings at the back end and big hitters Russell and Rovman Powell found themselves sitting frustratingly on the sidelines with nothing to do.