Cotterrell four-for blows away Barbados

Antigua Hawksbills 98 for 5 (Peters 31, Samuels 18*) beat Barbados Tridents 97 for 9 (Reifer 30, Akmal 15, Cotterrell 4-20) by five wickets
Scorecard

A tight and incisive bowling performance from Antigua Hawksbills, spearheaded by left-arm medium pacer Sheldon Cotterrell, helped the hosts secure a five-wicket win over Barbados Tridents at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

Cotterrell, the Man of the Match, finished with figures of 4 for 20, and took the wickets of Dwayne Smith, Jonathan Carter and Shakib Al Hasan in quick succession, as Barbados were restricted to a paltry 97 in their 20 overs.

The win moved Antigua up to fourth in the CPL table, ahead of the Trinidad & Tobago Red Steels on net run-rate, while Barbados still remained on top, with eight points from their six games.

Electing to bat, Barbados, who had posted over 140 each time they batted first, put up a surprisingly dismal batting effort and lost three wickets inside five overs. Cotterrell used the short ball to good effect against the openers, Carter and Smith. He then had Shakib Al Hasan caught at third man for a duck, leaving Barbados in trouble at 25 for 3. Kieron Pollard, who shone in Barbados' opening game against St Lucia Zouks with an all-round display, was sent in at No. 5 to stabilise the innings, but was bowled for a first-ball duck by pacer Kemar Roach to leave the visitors struggling at 26 for 4 in the sixth over.

Roach and Marlon Samuels played the ideal foil to Cotterrell, as the pair took four wickets between them, and suffocated Barbados' flow of runs. Apart from a 42-ball 30 from Raymon Reifer, no other big scores or partnerships materialized for Barbados, and the visitors were ultimately left with the difficult task of defending a low score.

Antigua lost two quick wickets in the run-chase, but the lack of runs on the board meant that Barbados never had a realistic chance of pulling off a victory, as Orlando Peters struck two fours and three sixes during his 22-ball 31 to eventually overhaul the target with an over to spare.

Antigua will next host St Lucia on Thursday, while Barbados will take on Jamaica Tallawahs on Saturday.