PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Kyle Mayers defied the magic of Mujeeb-ur-Rahman and Sandeep Lamichhane with a sensational half-century to propel Barbados Tridents to a 36-run victory yesterday over struggling Jamaica Tallawahs and reignite the reigning champions’ ailing title defence.
With Tridents under a vicious spin assault from the unrelenting duo, the left-handed Mayers counter-attacked brilliantly with a career-best 85 off 59 deliveries, which steered the innings to a competitive 148 for seven off 20 overs.
Mujeeb, the 19-year-old off-spinner from Afghanistan, finished with three for 14 from his four overs while Lamichhane, a 20-year-old leg-spinner from Nepal, claimed two for 16 from his full quota.
In reply, Tallawahs never looked the part and crumbled for 112 for nine off 20 overs, with only Nkrumah Bonner with 31 and Jermaine Blackwood, 28, showing any enterprise albeit briefly.
Kiwi left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner spearheaded the Tridents attack with a miserly four-over spell which yielded two for 10 after he was handed the new ball, while left-arm seamer Raymon Reifer (2-13) and fast-bowling captain Jason Holder (2-18) gave adequate support.
The die was cast once Tallawahs slumped to 27 for four at the end of the seventh over and with superstar Andre Russell sitting out the contest, they were without any firepower at the back end of the run chase.
For Tridents, the victory broke a three-game losing skid and lifted them to third place in the six-team standings with four points from two wins.
Tallawahs, meanwhile, remained on four points but slipped to fifth, with just two wins in five outings.
Sent in at Queen’s Park Oval, Tridents tumbled to 20 for two in the fourth over, after Mujeeb knocked over both openers Shai Hope (8) and Johnson Charles (3) in successive overs.
The right-handed Hope, still searching for form, missed a reverse sweep and was adjudged lbw while Charles played down the wrong line and edged to captain Rovman Powell at first slip.
Mayers then led an incredible counter-attack, slamming three fours and eight sixes as he dominated a 63-run, third wicket stand with Holder (15).
Exuding both elegance and power, Mayers smashed a four and two sixes from the eighth over sent down by Powell which leaked 17 runs before reaching his maiden T20 half-century in the 12th over.
Holder fell in the 11th over as Tridents lost four wickets for seven runs in the space of 17 balls in the middle overs but Mayers survived the mesmerising onslaught from Mujeeb and Lamichhane to launch yet another counter-attack, this time in a 50-run, seventh wicket partnership with Santner (20 not out).
Dropped behind on 54 in the 15th over off Mujeeb, Mayers made the Tallawahs pay dearly, belting 29 runs off the 18th over – including four sixes and a four – bowled by seamer Carlos Brathwaite.
Tridents then struck early in the run chase, Santner bowling Glenn Phillips with the fifth ball of the innings without a run on the board and Holder removing the out-of-form Chadwick Walton (10) to a catch behind in the next over.
Powell (4) and Asif Ali (2) followed in quick succession and Tallawahs were crawling at 36 without further loss at the half-way stage of the innings.
Bonner, who faced 28 balls and struck three fours and a six, and Blackwood, who counted a four and two sixes in a run-a-ball knock, tried to revive the run chase in a 39-run, fifth wicket stand.
But once Blackwood miscued a heave at Santner and holed out on the edge of the circle, the innings plunged into further decline.
