Tridents cruise past Amazon Warriors for fourth straight win

Tridents 100 for 4 (King 44*, Descarte 32, Mehidy 2-25) beat Amazon Warriors 99 (Phillips 24, Shepherd 22, Layne 3-14) by 6 wickets

The Barbados Tridents finished the group stage of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) in style, defeating the Guyana Amazon Warriors by six wickets at Kensington Oval.

A.M. Ghazanfar and Johann Layne claimed three wickets apiece as the Tridents bowled out the Warriors for just 99, their second-lowest total of the season. Brandon King then produced an impressive unbeaten 44 to guide the Tridents to their sixth victory of the tournament and their fourth on the trot.

Having inserted the visitors, Ghazanfar (3-17) ripped through their top-order to grab three wickets in five deliveries.

First came a fortunate stumping, with the ball rebounding off Quinton de Kock’s chest before the wicketkeeper completed the dismissal of Mavendra Dindyal (6). Two balls later, Shai Hope (0) chipped one to short mid-wicket before the big wicket of Shimron Hetmyer followed. Hetmyer (0) edged the ball onto his pads, sending it spinning into the air for de Kock to catch. Guyana was reeling at 15 for 3.

Glenn Phillips attempted to spearhead a fightback, but it was short-lived thanks to George Linde (2-13), who removed Phillips for 24 in the eighth over. Linde struck again with the next ball, removing Dwaine Pretorius for a first-ball duck.

Quinton Sampson (12) and Romario Shepherd (22) offered some resistance against the Tridents’ attack, but Johann Layne (3-13) eventually broke the partnership, claiming Sampson and Ronaldo Alimohamed in consecutive balls. The Warriors were dismissed in 18.1 overs.

Veerasammy Permaul provided the first breakthrough as the leaders set about defending the low total. He removed Zachary Carter for three before Mehidy Hasan Miraz dismissed Quinton de Kock for a similar score.

They got through the powerplay without further loss with 33 runs on the board.

Despite Imran Tahir, on his 100th CPL appearance, removing Rutherford for seven, a 41-run fourth-wicket stand between Brandon King and Shadrack Descarte took the fight out of the Warriors’ attack.

Descarte (32) fell to Mehidy after a brief rain delay, but King remained composed to see the chase through, with the Tridents getting home at 100 for 4 in 14.5 overs. The opener remained unbeaten on 44.

Despite the defeat, the Warriors finished atop the standings. The Tridents also advance to the play-offs by securing third place.