Motie magic seals playoff spot for Tridents

The Barbados Tridents, led by the batting of Gudakesh Motie, smashed 17 from the final over in their match against the Jamaica Kingsmen in the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League to secure a dramatic win and a place in the knockout stages.

Motie – coming in at number 9 – slashed Odeon Smith for four over point and smashed a straight six in the first two legal balls, accompanied by two wides, then managed to take a quick single on the final delivery of the over to get the Tridents over the line from the most unlikely of positions.

The bowler come batting hero earlier took 2/7 from three overs to halt momentum on the Kingsmen innings to restrict the already qualified side to 150. Shadrack Descarte’s 56 from 42 balls set up the chase towards the back end of the Tridents’ innings before Motie’s final over heroics. 

The Kingsmen were allowed to get off to a flying start, scoring 50/1 in the PowerPlay, and captain Chris Green bowled a full allocation inside the first 10 overs, a chance for a big total was on for the Jamaican side.

Maaz Sadaqat set the platform with 47 at the top of the order before Motie removed him to leave the Kingsmen at 86/3. The experienced middle-order which have proved valuable for the Kingsmen in the competition to date couldn’t find anything more than brief cameos with Andre Russell, Hassan Khan and Keacy Carty all providing a six and a four but then soon departing in a Tridents fightback.

It was the reverse story for Tridents on home turf however. Three wickets in the PowerPlay set them on the backfoot and momentum could never be offered.

With up to two-a-ball needed for the majority of the latter half of the innings, Descarte timed his only two sixes for a crucial 15th over, striking 16 to keep the fight alive in a memorable maiden T20 half-century.

In the final over it was Motie who took his team to victory and in doing so secured a place for them in the latter stages of the tournament. Although they were defeated in this match, the Kingsmen also make the Playoffs as the fourth place team thanks to having a superior Net Run Rate to the Saint Lucia Kings.