Motie's late hits clinch thriller; Tridents, Kingsmen through to playoffs

Jamaica Kingsmen finished their league stage just above St Lucia Kings to make the playoffs despite finishing with a loss

Barbados Tridents 151 for 8 (Descarte 56*, Hunain 2-25) beat Jamaica Kingsmen 150 for 9 (Sadaqat 47, J Pollard 3-38, Motie 2-7) by two wickets

Gudakesh Motie entertained the massive Bridgetown crowd that turned up for a game that went on beyond 1am local time and finished it by hitting the winning runs in a dramatic final over. Barbados Tridents' two-wicket win sealed their playoffs berth in CPL 2026, and though Jamaica Kingsmen lost the game, they qualified too, finishing fourth on the points table, just above St Lucia Kings who lost out after ending their campaign with three straight losses.

Though Tridents have another league game to go, against table toppers Guyana Amazon Warriors, the playoffs fixtures are already decided. Tridents and Kingsmen will clash again in the Eliminator, while Amazon Warriors and Antigua and Barbuda Falcons will face off in Qualifier 1.

Tridents faced the stiff task of needing 17 in the last over, with only two wickets in hand. Motie started the over with a boundary through point, which Odean Smith followed with two wides. The second was a close call that made the Kingsmen players unhappy, with captain Rovman Powell walking to the umpires for a chat. With 11 to get off five, Motie sliced a six over the long-off fence to swing the match further in Tridents' favour, and when he got on strike again for the last ball with scores level, he pulled Smith over short midwicket and ran across while leaping in celebration, sending the crowd into raptures.

Tridents kept slipping in their chase of 151, and stayed in it mostly because of Shadrack Descarte's 56 off 42 balls. When he holed out off Andre Russell, Tridents needed 44 to win from 23 balls, with four wickets in hand. Daniel Sams fell in the 18th over, at which stage Motie walked in to be welcomed by a waist-high full toss from Keemo Paul that was adjudged a no-ball, leaving Powell frustrated. With 28 needed from 12, Chris Green and Motie dispatched full deliveries from Hunain Shah for fours, and even though Green fell in that 11-run 19th over, Motie saw the team through.

Tridents had begun well after opting to bowl, hardly allowing the Kingsmen batters to settle. AM Ghazanfar broke the opening stand in the fourth over, going through Kirk McKenzie's hoick, before Maaz Sadaqat and Usman Khan put on 49 in six overs. Motie made his first impact of the game by dismissing the two set batters in consecutive overs, either side of the halfway mark. Sadaqat had held the innings together with 47 off 34, and his dismissal precipitated a slump, with no other batter scoring over 20 or facing 20 balls after him. Powell, Russell and Paul fell cheaply within the space of 12 balls while going for big hits, as Jakeem Pollard finished with 3 for 38, and Sams took two in the last over. It was thanks to some sloppy fielding from Tridents and late hits from Hassan Khan (16 off 12) and Keacy Carty (15 off 7) that Kingsmen reached 150.

Tridents' reply largely mirrored Kingsmen's innings, with Descarte the only batter with a major contribution. Hassan Khan and Hunain Shah removed the openers and Rivaldo Clarke became the victim of a Powell direct hit that left Tridents 33 for 3 in the sixth over. Descarte kept finding the ropes regularly, ensuring the asking rate did not go out of control, but there was little support. Quinton de Kock found long-off for 14 off 16 and Sherfane Rutherford was run out at the non-striker's end, off a straight hit from Descarte that deflected onto the stumps off Paul's fingertips. The setbacks didn't deter Descarte; he dispatched Vitel Lawes for two sixes in the 15th over and kept the equation to a gettable 52 from 30.