CPL 2017, Match 30, BT vs SNP, Review: Lewis and bowlers give Patriots top-two finish as Tridents crash out

Evin Lewis lit up the Kensington Oval with his whirlwind innings of 97 from just 32 balls as Tridents crashed out of the tournament after the final league match. Going into the game Barbados Tridents required a humongous win to seal the fourth playoff spot but St Kitts and Nevis Patriots did not allow them to even breathe without their consent. The visitors won handsomely by 10 wickets with 13 overs to spare chasing a scant total of 128.

Chris Gayle won the toss and invited the hosts to bat first in a must win game for them. As soon as Kieron Pollard lost the toss, it was clear that Barbados had to win by 220 runs to topple Warriors out of the tournament. Patriots rested Samuel Badree as Sheldon Cottrell was given a go and the hosts made as many as three changes to achieve an improbable task. Akeal Hosein’s exclusion was the most surprising one of them all.

Dwayne Smith and Nicholas Pooran opened the innings in order to seize the early advantage. They were successful in doing that albeit only partly as both were dismissed off successive deliveries. Kane Williamson didn’t look comfortable at all in his 20-ball stay as his misery was ended in the 11th over. Tridents never recovered as the spinners and the variations from the medium pacers got strangle hold of their batsmen.

Young Tion Webster who came in at 3 tried to steady the ship but far too many wickets fell at the other end. Pollard, inexplicably demoted himself down to 7 only to be dismissed for the same number of runs. Webster showed some promise as he was the highest scorer of the lineup with 32 off 25 deliveries. The hosts could only muster 128/9 in 20 overs as it confirmed their ousting from this season.

Patriots were absolutely flawless with the ball as the skipper of the Windies T20I side Carlos Brathwaite scalped 4/15. He was well assisted by the spin trio of Mohammad Hafeez, Tabraiz Shamsi and Mohammad Nabi. All the bowlers bowled their variations wonderfully barring Ben Hilfenhaus who struggled to get his line right.

Blink of an eye chase

Patriots just needed to chase down 129 to confirm their position in the top-two to have a couple of shots at the mega finale. The in-form pair of Evin Lewis and Chris Gayle came out and it seemed they were getting late for some event. They were in absolute hurry to get the game done and dusted. Especially Lewis who started the assault with the first ball he faced. The Universe Boss, for a change, played second fiddle to his partner as he unleashed his batting prowess yet again.

Fours and sixes echoed across the Bridgetown ground as Lewis brought up the fastest fifty of the season off just 19 cherries. The party continued as the Trinidadian explored every corner of the ground to leave the Tridents shell-shocked. However, Pollard controversially overstepped with one run to win to deny Lewis a well deserved century. He remained unbeaten on 97 which comprised of 6 fours and 11 literally colossal maximums as Patriots chased 129 in just 7 with a jaw-dropping run rate of 18.43.

Tridents bowlers looked clueless and without any motivation as they were found wanting from the word go. All of them were hammered out of the park by Lewis as the most economical bowler was Dwayne Smith with an economy of 13.

The action now shifts to the playoffs where the top two teams will play the first qualifier and the other two will clash in the eliminator. All the matches of this round including final will be played at Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad. The grand event will come to its conclusion on 10th September.

Brief Scores:

Barbados Tridents: 128/9 in 20 overs (T Webster 32 (25b, 2×4, 1×6); Carlos Brathwaite 4/15, Tabraiz Shamsi 2/14)

St Kitts Nevis and Patriots: 129/0 in 7 overs (E Lewis 97* (32b, 6×4, 11×6); C Gayle 22* (14b, 3×4, 1×6))

St.Kitts Nevis and Patriots won by 10 wickets

Man of the Match: Evin Lewis