GROS ISLET, St Lucia (CMC) — Rain spoiled an enthralling encounter after heavy hitters Kieron Pollard and Darren Sammy slammed exhilarating half-centuries, but Barbados emerged with a 21-run victory under Duckworth/Lewis to hand St Lucia Stars their third-straight loss in the Caribbean Premier League here Thursday night.

Pollard was devastating in an unbeaten 83 off a mere 35 balls as Tridents, opting to bat first at the Darren Sammy cricket ground, amassed a tournament-high 196 for four off their 20 overs.

New Zealander Kane Williamson got his first decent score with a measured 46, while fellow opener Dwayne Smith chimed in with 36.

Seamer Kyle Mayers was the best Stars bowler, with two for 30.

The adverse weather, which had also interrupted the Tridents innings, then returned to haunt Stars and they were 129 for six in the 16th over – 21 runs short of the par score of 150 — when the match was ended prematurely.

Sammy threatened to turn the game on its head with a scintillating unbeaten 60 after the top order collapsed, but rain also put paid to his heroics.

South African seamer Wayne Parnell grabbed three for 28 while Pakistan pacer Wahab Riaz snared two for 27.

For Tridents, it was their second win in three outings while inflicting Stars with a morale-sapping, third-straight defeat.

The Bridgetown-based franchise were given a solid start by Williamson and Smith who posted 72 off 55 deliveries.

Williamson faced 44 balls and struck five fours while Smith carved out three fours and two sixes in his 27-ball knock, which took the Barbadian past 7,000 T20 runs in his 299th match of the format.

Smith and Shoaib Malik, who got a first-ball ‘duck’, fell off successive deliveries with the score on 72, and when Williamson perished in the 14th over Tridents were stalling at 94 for three.

However, Pollard then took the innings by the scruff of its neck, belting five fours and six giant sixes, as he added 52 for the fourth wicket with Nicholas Pooran (18), and a further 50 in an unbroken fifth-wicket stand with Chris Barnwell (3 not out).

Such was the assault that the 17th over leaked 16 runs and the 18th gushed 20 before the last yielded 28, as the last four overs provided a whopping 78 runs.

Then, needing a quick start, Johnson Charles (19) and Andre Fletcher (17) put on 36 off 25 deliveries before six wickets tumbled for 28 runs, as Parnell and Wahab scythed through the innings.

Tottering on 64 for six in the ninth over, Sammy stepped up to rescue his flailing side, unleashing a salvo that saw him clobber five fours and five sixes to completely dominate a 65-run, unbroken, seventh-wicket partnership with Mayers (8 not out).

Rain intervened again to see the target adjusted to 193, but Stars found themselves frustrated again as weather had the final say.