Tridents win rain-marred CPL final

In a final plagued with rain interruptions, Barbados Tridents won the Caribbean Premier League 2014 by a slender margin of eight runs on Duckworth-Lewis, leaving Guyana Amazon Warriors with yet another disappointment at the last hurdle.

Amazon Warriors, who were also finalists last year, were set a target of 153 and needed 56 off 30 balls. However, a rain interruption - the fourth of the game - forced the match to be called off and Amazon Warriors found themselves short of the par score.

The title would have seemed distant to Tridents at the start of their innings when they were struggling at 8 for 2 after being put in to bat. Krishmar Santokie struck in his first two overs, dismissing William Perkins in the first and then bowling Jason Holder for a duck, after the batsman had been promoted to No. 3.

Tridents forged a recovery through an 88-run third-wicket partnership between Dwayne Smith and Shoaib Malik. The pair found the boundaries with ease early on, and hauled Tridents from 17 for 2 in four overs to 48 for 2 at the end of the Powerplay. The fifty of their stand took 27 balls and Smith reached his fifty off 44, just before the second rain break.

Amazon Warriors made a comeback soon after play resumed, as Sunil Narine got rid of Smith and Kieron Pollard in successive deliveries to leave Tridents on 96 for 4. The dismissals left Malik with the responsibility of providing the big runs towards the close of the innings and he responded with a brisk 41-run sixth-wicket partnership with Jeevan Mendis, which came off 23 balls. Thirty-one runs came off the last two overs as Malik and Mendis hit Santokie for 15 in the 19th and took 16 off Ronsford Beaton in the last. That late flourish lifted Tridents to a competitive 152 for 6. Malik finished unbeaten on 55 off 42.

Amazon Warriors' openers, Martin Guptill and Lendl Simmons, had three-century stands this season and were one of the key factors in the side's run through the tournament. In the final, however, the pair could only add 12 before Kyle Mayers bowled Guptill for 7.

A 37-run partnership between Simmons and Mohammed Hafeez tried to steady the innings and build a platform for the rest of the chase but those plans fell apart when Simmons, the tournament's highest run-getter, was dismissed for 20.

Hafeez and Jimmy Neesham tried putting the chase back on track, but both were dismissed in the same over to leave Amazon Warriors with 77 to get off 42 balls. The rain, however, wiped away Amazon Warriors' chances.