BANGALORE – Prolific Jonathan Carter and pacer Ravi Rampaul starred with bat and ball, respectively, as Barbados Tridents defeated Northern Districts by six wicket to conjure up their lone victory in the Champions League T20 here yesterday.
Carter posted a steady 30 while Rampaul snatched three wickets as Tridents, playing their final match of the tournament, won with two balls and six wickets to spare at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
But it was James Franklin, unbeaten on 33, who guided Tridents to victory in the inconsequential final group match of the Champions League T20 after hitting fellow New Zealander Tim Southee’s full tosses for a six and a four.
Zimbabwe’s limited-overs captain Elton Chigumbura also contributed to the win by hitting Trent Boult for a couple of fours in the penultimate over when 23 were needed off 12 balls.
Carter, the leading run-getter of the main round of the tournament, struck two fours and a six in his steady knock of 30 before he was caught.
He and Franklin stabilized the innings with a stand of 56 for the fourth wicket when Dilshan Munaweera fell to a spectacular diving catch after launching the chase with a quick 20.
Franklin and Chigumbura shared an unbeaten stand of 33 off 20.
Earlier, Northern Districts stumbled to 135 for eight in 19 overs after the match was shortened following a one-hour rain delay.
Rampaul played a key role in containing Districts’ run flow by grabbing early wickets as they slumped to 76 for four.
He finished with top figures of three for 34.
Skipper Rayad Emrit conceded that poor fielding severely affected the Barbados Tridents’ campaign in the tournament currently under way in India.
The Tridents actually had a chance to win each game they played, especially the first two, which both went down to the final over.
“Overwhelmed to win a game finally. We came close to winning a game several times. Today was a totally different team from our previous matches,” said Emrit, who is Trinidadian.
“We had a chat before the match today. We knew if Franklin and Elton stayed till the end we would chase it. Our fielding let us down in every single game.”
Tridents lost all of their other matches by close margins, including a defeat in the super over against Cape Cobras after scores were tied.
Carter, who scored a century, was the leading run-getter of the main round of the tournament.
“We are elated. We stuck as a group. We are one big family so we’ll celebrate tonight,” said Carter.
“I wanted to finish the game and I should have carried on. I spoke to Mr Haynes [Desmond Haynes] a lot, and worked on my game and grabbed the opportunity with both hands here.” (CMC)
