18 overs Barbados Tridents 177 for 5 (Rutherford 61, King 39, de Kock 38, van Schalkwyk 2-25) beat St Lucia Kings 168 for 6 (August 63, Motie 3-22, Mujeeb 2-27) by nine runs
Once rain made it an 18-overs-a-side game, Quinton de Kock and Brandon King started with a flurry of boundaries from the end of the third over, after a quiet start which saw the early wicket of Zachary Carter. De Kock went after Maheesh Theekshana, while King took down Matthew Forde. De Kock also led the hammering in the fifth over by Khari Campbell that went for 23 runs.
However, Roston Chase soon had de Kock holing out for 38 off 15. He also accounted for King, after Tridents’ run rate had dipped below 10 an over. Even though Theekshana kept things tight, by not leaking a single boundary in his last three overs, Sherfane Rutherford injected the firepower back in the innings. While Rivaldo Clarke scratched his way to 15 off 22 balls at the other end, Rutherford hammered four sixes in the last four overs for a 27-ball fifty – his second in a row – that took Tridents to 177.
The Kings chase was mostly about local boy Ackeem Auguste as Motie and Mujeeb troubled the rest of the line-up. They sent the Kings openers back in the first six overs and Chris Green also bowled a frugal spell, while Auguste went for the big hits. Auguste took 19 off Green’s last over and then three sixes off a Raom Simmonds over to bring the equation down to 61 required off 36 with his 28-ball fifty.
Mujeeb then had Charith Asalanka caught at deep midwicket – with a juggling catch from Rutherford – in the 13th over, and Auguste lost his stumps to Motie in the next. With 50 required from 24, it was all downhill for Kings from there, as they continued to lose wickets. A few boundaries at the end, from Amari Goodridge and Forde, only reduced their margin of defeat.
