Antigua and Barbuda Falcons faced the Barbados Royals in the third game of the season of the Caribbean Premier League. Barbados had a very shaky beginning after being asked to bat first. The trouble came early in the second over when Brandon King fell for only three runs. He tried to defend a rising ball outside the off stump from Jayden Seales, but it touched the edge of his bat and went straight to Cornwall at slip. This early wicket created pressure on Barbados. Quinton de Kock then came forward with Kadim Alleyne to control the situation. Both of them tried to build a stand, but the runs were not coming easily.
De Kock reached his half century by taking two runs off Ghazanfar. His fifty came in 39 balls, and he was looking steady. However, he could not carry on for long. Trying to hit a big shot against Obed McCoy, he mistimed it and Fabian Allen took the catch at deep square leg. De Kock walked back after scoring a valuable 57 runs from 45 balls.
Rovman Powell arrived next and started attacking right from the beginning. He played big shots to lift the team’s run rate. The innings was saved by Powell’s power-hitting. He smashed the bowlers around and remained not out on 51 from only 24 balls. His knock gave Barbados a fighting total of 151 runs. Jayden Seales’ remarkable figures of 4-0-15-2 stood out as the reason why Barbados couldn’t reach 170.
However, Shakib Al Hasan had a disappointing day at the CPL again. With the ball, he could bowl only one over in the 15th, just like he bowled just the 13th over in the previous match. In that over he was struck for a four and a six, conceding 14 runs without taking a wicket. With the bat, he tried to play quickly to help his team, but he could not succeed, as he struggled to connect well. In the 13-run innings, Shakib was given several chances, but that was all he could do – scoring 13 runs. He was caught by Powell at long on off Mujeeb Ur Rahman after making 13 runs from 13 balls.
The Antigua and Barbuda Falcons, however, chased down the target with 2 balls remaining, as Karima Gore stood out with the bat once again. The 27-year-old batter from the USA patiently scored 64* off 53 balls hitting 3 fours and 2 sixes hitting the winning runs. Karima had scored 61(34) in the first game as well.
Although it was not Shakib Al Hasan’s day, the Falcons would be delighted to have come back after the loss in the first game.
Scores:
Barbados Royals: 151/6 (20.0)
Quinton De Kock 57(45)
Rovman Powell 51*(24)
Jayden Seales 2/15
Obed McCoy 2/29
Antigua and Barbuda Falcons: 152/4 (19.4)
Karima Gore 64*(53)
Jewel Andrew 28(25)
Jomel Warrican 1/20
Mujeeb Ur Rahman 1/23