Empress lose to remarkable Tridents comeback

The Barbados Tridents pulled off a remarkable comeback victory to keep their hopes of a fourth consecutive Limacol WCPL title alive, edging the Jamaica Empress with outstanding death bowling.

The Tridents posted a competitive total thanks largely to a 78-run partnership between Suzie Bates and Maddy Green, which gave the reigning champions a fighting chance after a sluggish start to their innings.

In reply, the class of Meg Lanning appeared to have made the difference as she struck a superb 57 and, along with Amy Hunter, looked set to take the game away from the Tridents.

However, once Lanning and Hunter departed, the Empress middle order struggled against a disciplined Tridents attack that kept the scoring in check and secured a thrilling three-run victory.

After winning the toss, the Tridents elected to bat but struggled against some excellent new-ball bowling from Rosemary Mair and Chinelle Henry. It was Nonkululeko Mlaba who made the breakthrough, however, when she claimed Qiana Joseph with a caught-and-bowled dismissal.

Hayley Matthews looked to play the anchor role but found scoring difficult, managing 21 from 23 balls. When she departed, the Tridents were 56-4 inside the 10th over with plenty of work still to do.

From there, New Zealand pair Bates and Green revived the innings with a partnership full of class and innovation, using the sweep and reverse sweep effectively against the Empress bowlers.

Stafanie Taylor claimed three wickets in the final over to finish with figures of 4-29 as the Tridents failed to fully capitalise on the platform Bates and Green had created in the closing stages.

When the Empress began their chase, it became the Lanning and Hunter show as the pair produced the highest opening stand in WCPL history.

Such was the ease with which they paced the chase that it came as something of a surprise when the first wicket fell, with Hunter well caught by Bates off the bowling of Afy Fletcher.

It was the breakthrough the Tridents desperately needed.

The Empress appeared to be cruising towards victory, but Bates and Fletcher combined to make scoring increasingly difficult in the closing overs, helping to spark a dramatic turnaround and seal an invaluable win for the defending champions.