BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – All-rounder Dwayne Smith returned to haunt his former team Barbados Tridents as Jamaica Tallawahs inflicted a demoralising five-run defeat on the hosts, in a low-scoring, last-over thriller at Kensington Oval here Monday night.

With Tridents needing 15 runs off the last over in pursuit of a paltry 128, Barbadian Smith – ignored by his home franchise in this year’s draft – then conceded only nine runs and grabbed the key wicket of Raymon Reifer, to deliver victory for Tallawahs.

Tridents put their noses in front when Sandeep Lamichhane scrambled a single off the first ball and Reifer then cleared the ropes at square leg, leaving eight runs to get from the last four balls of the over.

Reifer skied the third ball into the deep for a couple but Smith then exacted revenge off the fourth delivery, inducing the left-hander to loft a slower ball to Shamar Springer at deep cover.

Tridents were still in with a chance with six runs needed off the last two deliveries but Smith kept Lamichhane scoreless off both in a dramatic finish.

Opener Johnson Charles top-scored with a painstaking 31 off 35 balls while Reifer’s 26 came from just 12 balls down the order and managed to re-energised a feeble run chase.

Leg-spinner Imran Khan (3-19) and Barbadian fast bowler Springer (3-32) snatched three wickets apiece while Smith produced a crucial spell of two for 22 from his three overs.

The result for the hosts extended their wretched run at the Oval to eight straight defeats dating back to the 2017 season, and was their fourth in six outings overall for the current campaign.

Tallawahs, meanwhile, kept alive their slim playoff hopes with what was only their second win of the campaign – both coming over Tridents.

Both teams now have four points but Tridents remain fourth courtesy of net run rate while Tallawahs lie fifth.

Sent in earlier in a match watched by England’s Barbadian fast bowling sensation, Jofra Archer, Tallawahs batted poorly and were dismissed for 127 off their 20 overs, with in-form opener Glenn Phillips stroking 41 off 35 balls and Ramaal Lewis providing a late flourish with 27 off 22 deliveries.

Nineteen-year-old Nepal leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane, in his last game for Tridents, finished with two for 17 while captain Jason Holder (2-21) and left-arm seamer Reifer (2-31) also chipped in with two wickets apiece.

Playing without explosive all-rounder Andre Russell, it meant Tallawahs needed a score from talisman Chris Gayle but he chopped on to pacer Holder for one in the second over with 11 runs on the board.

Chadwick Walton (13) sparkled briefly with a four and a six before edging Lamichhane to slip where Ashley Nurse took a brilliant reflex one-handed, diving catch in the fifth over.

And when George Worker (6) and Smith (1) fell in quick succession, Tallawahs stumbled on 55 for four in the ninth over.

Phillips, who struck five fours and a six, put on 22 with Imran Khan (10) for the fifth wicket which appeared to be steadying the innings but both perished in another cluster of wickets that saw three wickets tumble for one run in the space of 11 balls.

The visitors needed Lewis’s fireworks at the end – he took 17 runs from the final over – to get up to their eventual total.

In reply, Tridents managed just two runs from the first two overs before Alex Hales (16) responded with two sixes off Worker’s left-arm spin in the third over but perished in the following over to a diving catch by Englishman Jade Dernback at backward square off 20-year-old left-arm spinner Zahir Khan.

When Justin Greaves (6) and JP Duminy (3) fell in successive overs, the scoring rate had slowed to a trickle at just over 4-⅕ an over to leave Tridents going nowhere at 43 for three in the ninth over.

Jonathan Carter injected some urgency into the innings with 17 off 15 balls, posting 31 with Charles who counted three fours but Springer struck in successive overs to remove both in a devastating 27-ball period which saw five wickets tumble for 16 runs.

On 90 for eight at the start of the 18th over, the game was Tallawahs’ for the taking, and Smith held his nerve to ensure there was no Tridents comeback.