De Villiers, Malik guide Tridents to first win

Barbados Tridents rode on half-centuries from AB de Villiers and Shoaib Malik to chase down a 163-run target with eight balls to spare against St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, registering their first win of the 2016 Caribbean Premier League.

Patriots, who elected to bat at Warner Park, were restricted to 162 for 8 despite a half-century from Evin Lewis at the top. In reply, Tridents made 166 for 3 in 18.4 overs, thanks primarily to de Villiers' 33-ball knock. Following the victory, de Villiers said it was his team's bowlers who made the difference. "I think the bowlers kicked us off really well," he said. "Restricted them to what I thought was about 20 to 30 short of a good total. So it was up to our batters to just finish the job."

And finish the job de Villiers did. He walked in with Tridents reduced to 45 for 2 in the eighth over. Steven Taylor had been the first to fall, in bizarre fashion: Thisara Perera had the left-hand batsman squared up with a short delivery and got the outside edge, but Devon Thomas, the wicketkeeper, failed to hold on to it as he flung himself to his left; instead, he parried it to Tabraiz Shamsi at short third man, who held on to complete the dismissal. Perera struck again four overs later, when Wayne Parnell holed out to Carlos Brathwaite at long-on.

De Villiers and Malik then changed the course of the game with a 63-run third-wicket stand that came off just 39 balls. Malik played the support role with a knock of 54 off 46 balls that included two fours and as many sixes before it was ended by the legspin of Samuel Badree. De Villiers was already set on 33 off 18 at that point, and he kept going.

Kieron Pollard got going with a boundary off chinaman bowler Shamsi, off the second ball he faced. He followed it up with a six and a four to make it 14 off the over, the 16th of the innings. De Villiers crunched consecutive sixes off Perera in the 18th over to bring the equation down to seven off 16, before Pollard sealed the game with a boundary to square leg off Krishmar Santokie, the left-arm medium pacer. Pollard finished unbeaten on 25 off 13 balls.

When Patriots batted, they were in trouble early, with Lendl Simmons and Faf du Plessis dismissed by the third over with 21 on the board. Lewis kept the innings afloat, adding 54 runs for the fourth wicket with Jonathan Carter. Carter hit one boundary and three sixes on his way to 41 off 37 balls, before cameos from Thomas and Carlos Brathwaite ensured a relatively strong finish to the innings.

Tridents' bowlers shared the wickets around, but South African seamers Parnell (2 for 22 in four) and David Wiese (2 for 14 in three) had the best returns.

Patriots face Guyana Amazon Warriors next, in Providence on July 9, while Tridents take on Jamaica Tallawahs in Bridgetown on July 11.