Malik helps Tridents trump Hawksbills

After being at the mercy of Marlon Samuels through the early part of the game, Ravi Rampaul's triple-strike in the 19th over of the first innings generated a reversal in fortunes for the Barbados Tridents and they carried their late momentum from the field into an impressive chase to defeat the Antigua Hawksbills by five wickets with four balls remaining at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. Rampaul claimed 4 for 32 while Shoaib Malik starred with the bat for the Tridents and was named Man-of-the-Match after top-scoring with 72 in the visitors' successful chase of the Hawksbills 172 for 6.

Tridents captain Kieron Pollard won the toss and elected to field first as the Hawksbills looked untroubled throughout the majority of their innings and seemed certain to achieve their first win of the 2014 CPL season. After Danza Hyatt fell to Rampaul in the fourth over for 7, Samuels and Ben Dunk added 83 for the second wicket.

The pair seized on short pitched bowling from the Tridents seam attack and Samuels flayed Rayad Emrit for a flat batted six over long off in the 11th just a few deliveries before bringing up his 50 off 26 balls courtesy of overthrows. The short ball finally worked in the 13th as Jason Holder followed Dunk backing away for an uppercut and the result was a glove through to the keeper Shane Dowrich for 33.

David Hussey gave Samuels a breather at the non-striker's end in the 15th by smacking Holder for six over midwicket followed by a four cut through point and an overpitched delivery hammered back over Holder's head for another boundary as part of a 17-run over. Samuels took back the reins in the 17th over bowled by Rampaul, clubbing the second and third balls over extra cover and midwicket for four before carting the fifth ball over long-on for six as part of a 20-run frame.

The Hawksbills entered the 19th on 163 for 2 with Samuels on 84 and Hussey on 30 off 13, but Rampaul bounced back in fantastic fashion by finishing his spell with three wickets in the over. Samuels failed to get enough elevation on a lofted drive and picked out Holder at long-off to start the over. Devon Thomas perished three balls later for a duck by driving Rampaul to Dwayne Smith at long-on. Hussey crossed with the ball on the air to get on strike for the fifth ball but found himself walking all the way back to the dugout after being cleaned up by a yorker.

Emrit conceded just five runs off the final over which concluded with another catch sent to long-on by Sheldon Cottrell to cement the Hawksbills collapse. They scored just nine runs in the final two overs for the loss of four wickets and paid for it dearly in the end. The Hawksbills' 172 for 6 was the highest score of this year's CPL, but the poor finish meant it was a below par total.

Smith and Dowrich got the Tridents off to a rapid start with 16 runs in the first over by Cottrell to put the weak Hawksbills attack under pressure. Dowrich fell three balls into the third over for 17 chopping a Cottrell delivery onto his stumps. Malik joined Smith and quickly caught up with the set batsman, smashing two sixes and a four early in his innings with Samuels in particular targeted in a 13-run sixth over. Smith fell for 21 to an athletic catch from Miguel Cummins, after an attempted slash was intercepted inside the third man rope with a diving effort to give Carlos Brathwaite his first wicket.

The Tridents never produced a 50-run stand, but each partnership was steady enough to nibble away at the target. Jeevan Mendis and Malik added 36 for the third wicket before Mendis mistimed a slog against Brad Hogg and a skied chance was taken by Cummins at square leg to make it 97 for 3 in the 12th.

Malik seized back control of the chase for the Tridents in the 13th by smacking Ben Laughlin for six over midwicket and brought up his 50 off 34 balls on the next delivery with a two through cover. Pollard put his stamp on the over by hitting the final ball into the sightscreen for six. After two more boundaries early in the 17th, Brathwaite produced hope for the Hawksbills by getting Pollard to chase a wide ball and edge behind for 21 to make it 143 for 4 with 31 needed to win off 20 balls.

Malik was runout trying to force a second run in the 19th, but Holder calmed any nerves in the Tridents dugout by hitting Brathwaite for six on the very next ball and the Tridents entered the last over needing seven to win. After a leg bye on the first ball, Holder hit Cottrell for a six to finish the game and finished 19 not out.