A sound bowling performance, led by Sohail Tanvir (2 for 24), denied the Tridents the opportunity to post a total closer to 180 after Kieron Pollard opted to bat in a must-win fixture. Ahmed Shehzad's lacklustre form at the top of the order continued as he struggled to put bat on ball before perishing for a forgettable 13-ball 6. However, the top-order triumvirate of Steven Taylor, Shoaib Malik and Pollard steadied the ship with useful contributions.
Taylor, Shehzad's opening partner, opted to play his strokes in order to keep his team from going into a rut following Shehzad's dismissal. In the final over of the powerplay, the 22-year-old batsman from the United States of America, carted Dwayne Smith for three successive boundaries to get a much-needed move on after an early dismissal. Soon after the powerplay overs, however, Australian leggie Adam Zampa managed to fox the aggressive right-hander by tossing one up and luring him to take the aerial route in futility. Taylor's attempted slog went down Lynn's throat at long off. In his 20-ball stay at the wicket, Taylor managed 37 runs, 28 of which came in fours.
The experienced duo of Malik and Pollard added a crucial, essay-defining partnership for the third wicket, laying the platform to push the accelerator towards the end. The pair's intention of shifting gears became clear in the 14th over, when Pollard punished Zampa with back-to-back fours. An over later, they collected 17 off Christopher Barnwell, taking the team total past 100.
Rayad Emrit, who was mixing up his bowlers constantly in search of wicket, ended up being the one who brought about the breakthrough. Off the last ball of the 17th over, the right-arm pacer, took the pace of the ball on a length delivery that Malik decided to go after. The miscued hit went to Lynn at mid wicket. Tanvir returned to end Pollard's stay off the very first delivery of the 18th over, making a sizeable dent on Tridents hopes of posting a huge total. Pollard departed for a 36-ball 47. Tanvir doubled-up this crucial scalp with an excellent final over in which he conceded just seven runs and bagged a wicket to restrict Tridents to 158 for 5.
Dwayne Smith and Nic Maddinson, the half-centurions in Warriors' previous fixture, fell for a first-ball duck and a dodgy 19-ball 16 respectively, but Lynn and Mohammed mounted the team's chase in commendable fashion. Lynn wasted no time in making his aggressive intent clear to the opposition, as he carted Raymon Reifer for a four and a six in the first over, just a couple of deliveries after he had cleaned up Smith. He also scored three successive fours off Ravi Rampaul to give the team a rollicking start in chase.
The Tridents bowlers tightened the noose after the powerplay overs as Lynn and Mohammed took their time to establish the foundation of their partnership. The Warriors went from 44 for 2 in 6 overs to 62 for 2 in 10, putting the side behind the eight ball. With 97 needed from the second half of the innings, the two decided to chance their arms. Lynn took the chance against medium-pacer David Wiese, hitting him for two sixes to begin the process of narrowing the deficit.
If there was a moment when the chase swung violently in favour of the Warriors, it was in the 13th over. Emrit was left to rue his decision of throwing the ball to Marchant de Lange, as the two batsmen collected 20 runs off it to bring down the equation to 58 from 42 balls.
Pollard bowled a fine over to follow all the hitting to pile the pressure on the two batsmen, setting up Lynn's dismissal in the 15th over from Reifer. The Australian departed for a fine knock of 57 from 44 balls, with Warriors still needing 57 off 31 deliveries. Pollard unleashed another tight over that finished with the wicket of Anthony Bramble, trapped leg before.
Barnwell and Mohammed managed four singles in five deliveries in the 17th over, allowing the asking rate to mount again. The former however, broke the shackles and sent a full length deliveries soaring into the stands. The task of killing the chase was in Pollard's hands but he couldn't replicate the success of his previous two overs as the 18th comprised a six and a four, bringing down the equation to just 16 off 12.
Rampaul couldn't do enough to keep his side in the hunt till the end as he conceded 12 off the penultimate over, during which Mohammed reached his first fifty of the season with a big six. Five balls later, another six from Mohammed, smashed over deep mid wicket, sealed the chase for the Warriors with three balls and six wickets to spare.
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