Emrit, Malik star in Tridents win

St Lucia Zouks imploded in their chase of 149, losing seven wickets for 44 runs, as they crashed to a 15-run defeat against Barbados Tridents in Basseterre. Tridents' win, built on a three-wicket haul by Rayad Emrit and a fifty from Shoaib Malik, helped them open up a three-point lead at the top of the table over second-placed Zouks.

Zouks' chase started off poorly as Johnson Charles and Kevin Pietersen were dismissed by the fourth over, the latter run-out for 1. A 56-run partnership between Andre Fletcher and Ross Taylor steadied the innings briefly, with Fletcher completing a brisk 50 off 35 deliveries. It was his wicket in the 13th over that started the slide for Zouks as Emrit drew Fletcher into playing a shot to Kieron Pollard at long-on. In the next over, Jeevan Mendis dismissed Taylor and Kyle Mayers off successive deliveries to leave Zouks struggling at 83 for 5 and their position worsened after Henry Davids was out two overs later.

With 49 required off the last 24 deliveries, Zouks were largely reliant on their captain Darren Sammy, but his wicket in the 17th over, followed by two more in the 18th and 19th overs, left Zouks with 25 to get off the last six balls. The spin pair of Robin Peterson and Mendis took two wickets each while Emrit finished with 3 for 20 off his four overs.

The Tridents innings was held together by Shoaib Malik, who scored 51 after the side won the toss and opted to bat. The opening pair of Dwayne Smith and Dilshan Munaweera had given the side a solid start, adding 45 in 7.4 overs, but they suffered a blip, losing four quick wickets to reach 76 for 4 in the 13th over. Malik added crucial runs with the lower order, hitting five fours and a six on his way to 51 off 35 deliveries, a Man-of-the-Match winning performance.