CPL: AB de Villiers Roars Back to Form, Helps Barbados Tridents to Emphatic Win
AB de Villiers ended his recent poor run with the bat as he smashed a magnificent fifty and helped Barbados Tridents beat St Kitts and Nevis Patriots by seven wickets for their first win in the 2016 Caribbean Premier League
Highlights
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AB de Villiers smashed his first fifty in 2016 CPL
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Barbados Tridents secured their first win in 2016 CPL
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St Kitts and Nevis Patriots lost their third game in four matches
AB de Villiers snapped his recent lean run with a magnificent 63 off 33 balls as he shared a match-winning stand of 63 with Shoaib Malik (54) to help Barbados Tridents beat St Kitts and Nevis Patriots by seven wickets in the 2016 Caribbean Premier League.
De Villiers, who had scored just 121 runs at an average of 24.20 in the recently concluded Tri-Series featuring Australia and West Indies, showed his magnificent form that had yielded him 687 runs at an average of 52.84 and a strike-rate of 168.79.
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots won the toss and chose to bowl on a sluggish Warner Park wicket and they lost Faf du Plessis and Lendl Simmons cheaply. Ewin Lewis made a substantial contribution by smashing 50 off 33 balls and he was well supported by Jonathan Carter with 41 off 37 balls. However, once these two batsmen departed, the Patriots lost momentum and they ended up on 162/8 in 20 overs.
In reply, Barbados Tridents lost Steven Taylor for 3 but Shoaib Malik was in fine form. Wayne Parnell, who was promoted to number three, failed to contribute and it was left to de Villiers and Malik to guide Barbados home. Malik notched up a fine fifty while de Villiers batted with authority.
After Malik's departure for 54, Kieron Pollard stayed with AB de Villiers till the end as they romped home to a seven-wicket win. This was Barbados' first win in the 2016 CPL while for the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, it was their third loss in four games.