Barbados Tridents reach CPL final after ending Trinbago Knight Riders' hopes of third straight title
Tridents to face Guyana in Saturday's final, live on Sky Sports
Monday 14 October 2019 20:14, UK
Barbados Tridents will play Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League final after ending Trinbago Knight Riders' hopes of a third consecutive title with victory in the play-off.
Tridents, who will now contest their first final since 2015, posted 160-6 before dismissing Trinbago for 148 to win by 12 runs, with Raymon Reifer, Ashley Nurse and Hayden Walsh Jr playing starring roles.
Nurse (24no off 9) and Reifer (24no off 18) combined to add 48 runs from the final 13 balls of the innings - Nurse slamming three sixes in that time, one off England's Chris Jordan (2-40) - after they were struggling on 112-6 in the 18th over with the top order failing to build on starts and JP Duminy retiring hurt on 10 due to a hamstring issue.
Nurse, bowling for the first time since September 22, and Reifer then shared four wickets as the Knight Riders fell short in the run chase to see their dreams of a fourth title in five seasons extinguished.
Nurse removed Darren Bravo (2) and Denesh Ramdin (21) in the middle overs, while Reifer accounted for Seekkuge Prassana (51 off 27) and Khary Pierre (0) in the final over, which began with Trinbago requiring 14.
Prasanna reignited his team's chances with a 22-ball fifty after Kieron Pollard's run out at the hands of the impressive Walsh Jr for 23 had left Knight Riders on 120-6 in the 16th over.
Walsh Jr is also the leading wicket-taker in the tournament, the American leg-spinner moving on to 21 scalps in eight matches after striking twice against Trinbago, with Colin Munro (16) one of his victims.
Harry Gurney (2-31) claimed two wickets - Jordan for five and Sunil Narine for 17 - but team-mate and fellow Englishman Alex Hales made only 10 with the bat and has now failed to pass fifty in 11 innings in this term's CPL.
Hales will be looking to remedy that in Saturday night's final when Barbados try to land their first title since 2014 as they take on a Guyana side who have won each of their 11 matches this season.
Will Barbados deny in-form Guyana a maiden CPL crown? Find out live from 9.30pm on Saturday on Sky Sports Cricket (channel 404).
