The Barbados Tridents lost their first Group B match in the Champions League on Saturday September 20, 2014, by four wickets to Kings XI Punjab in Mohali, India. Photo: Provided

The Tridents having qualified for the Tournament courtesy of winning the Caribbean Premier League batted first and scored an impressive 174 for 6, led by Raymon Reiffer’s 60. Photo: Provided

Opener Dilshan Munaweera, in his first game for Tridents, scored exactly 50 off 26 balls. Photo: Provided

The Tridents having qualified for the Tournament courtesy of winning the Caribbean Premier League batted first and scored an impressive 174 for 6, led by Raymon Reiffer’s 60. However when it mattered most experienced seamer Ravi Rampaul leaked 20 runs from the penultimate over of the innings as Kings XI Punjab reached their target with two balls to spare and David Millar 46 not out and Akshar Patel undefeated on 23.

Rampaul got his lengths wrong on the first two balls and watched as Akshar Patel, who finished 23 not out off just nine balls, belted the first ball to the long-on boundary and the second over cover with the same result. Kings XI could only manage singles from the next two balls but Patel capitalised on the fifth ball, another length delivery, getting a thick outside edge to the third man boundary.

With 14 already off the over, Rampaul needed to finish well but instead bowled short only for Patel to oblige with a hook that carried over square leg for six.

Needing five from the last over, Kings XI were kept quiet off the first three balls by lanky seamer Jason Holder before Man-of-the-Match David Miller slammed the fourth delivery off long-off for six, to finish the game in style. Miller finished on 46 not out from 34 balls with three fours and two sixes, and added an invaluable 47 off 19 balls with Patel who hit three fours and a six.

Leg-spinner Jeevan Mendis was the best Tridents bowler with two for 18 while Rampaul also picked up two wickets but was expensive in giving up 50 runs from his four overs.

Playing in their first ever CLT20 match, Tridents never seemed daunted as they rattled up 174 for six off their 20 overs, after they were sent in.

They were carried by a classy unbeaten 60 off 42 deliveries from left-handed Raymon Reifer while opener Dilshan Munaweera, in his first game for Tridents, scored exactly 50 off 26 balls.

Seamer Parvinder Awana took three for 46 while medium pacer Thisara Perera supported with two for 18.
Munaweera, in partnership with William Perkins, gave Tridents a flying start helping to add 51 off 31 deliveries for the first wicket.

The right-hander struck five fours and three sixes and was into stride from as early as the opening over, finding the cover boundary with seamer Anureet Singh before clearing the straight boundary next ball.

Reifer held the innings together well, raising his fifty off 39 balls with a boundary to fine leg and then combining with the lower order to ensure Tridents got 43 from the last four overs.