Captain Kieron Pollard smashed a rapid half-century under pressure to lift Trinbago Knight Riders to a four wicket victory over Saint Lucia Kings in an entertaining Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) clash at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground.

After the Kings posted 187-6, the Knight Riders were well on track thanks to a belligerent 57 from 33 balls from Shaqkere Parris before stuttering in the middle overs.

 With 27 runs needed off 12 balls, Pollard (52 not out off 19 balls) whacked four sixes off seamer Matthew Forde in the penultimate over before the Knight Riders ran down the target with five balls remaining to inflict defeat on the Kings. The Knight Riders moved to a record of 2-1, while the Kings are 2-2.

 After being routed for just 100 by Guyana Amazon Warriors, the Kings paced their innings well after being sent in to bat.

 Opener Johnson Charles got the Kings off to a flier with two sixes in three balls to spoil the 23th birthday of quick Jayden Seales.

 Skipper Faf du Plessis also chanced his arm and was dropped twice before his middle stump was knocked over by left-arm spinner Waqar Salamkheil in the eighth over.

 The Kings went through a lull in the middle overs, with Sunil Narine enjoying the spin-friendly conditions to finish with 2/13 from four overs.

 But Roston Chase (56 not out from 40 balls) stepped up in the latter overs and powered the Kings to a strong total.

 The Knight Riders needed a fast start and Narine obliged before falling to debutant left-arm quick Khari Campbell, who picked up the wicket with his sixth delivery.

 But Campbell was brought back to earth when he misjudged a skier in a lucky let off for Jason Roy on 10. Campbell's confidence was shaken and he succumbed to an assault from a rampaging Parris who cracked a trio of sixes in the fifth over.

 Parris raced to 31 off 9 balls as the Knight Riders continued to soar above the required run rate. He fittingly hit a six to reach his half-century off 20 balls as the Knight Riders reached triple figures in the ninth over.

 But Parris was less assured against vicious short-pitched bowling from Alzarri Joseph and on 54 he gloved a rearing delivery only for wicketkeeper Tim Seifert to fumble the chance after diving forward.

 Parris' momentum was halted and a clever bowling change led to his downfall when spinner Noor Ahmad lured him into a false shot. Keacy Carty struggled for fluency and in the 17th over was brilliantly caught by substitute fielder David Wiese, who dived at long on to take a stunner.

 The pressure fell on Pollard, who kept his calm with his first CPL half-century since 2021 to leave the local fans once again stunned.

Antigua & Barbuda Falcons claimed a dramatic final ball victory over Trinbago Knight Riders to claim their debut victory in the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL). An undulating eighth match of the competition at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound saw the Falcons finally take flight at the fifth time of asking, claiming a six-run win and two points that keeps their tournament hopes alive.

Having been put into bat, the Falcons managed to post a competitive total of 176-6, with Fakhar Zaman and Justin Greaves putting on 65 for the first wicket and Imad Wasim (46 off 29 balls) and Fabian Allen (25* off 11 balls) giving the innings some momentum in the second half.

After impressing with the ball in hand, Sunil Narine struggled with the bat, falling for a four-ball duck at the beginning of the Knight Riders’ chase. Player of the Match Fabian Allen added vital wickets to go with his handy hitting. A match turning 10th over saw him prise out Shaqkere Parris lbw for 31 and then pull off a lighting-reflex return catch to dismiss Nicholas Pooran with his very next ball.

Scores: Antigua and Barbuda Falcons 176-6 (20 overs); Trinbago Knight Riders 170-9 (20 overs)

The Knight Riders managed to take the game into the final over and had the chance to make it two wins in two games, with an attainable 14 runs needed off the final six deliveries. Roshon Primus held his nerve for the Falcons after getting flicked for four through midwicket by Akeal Hosein off the first ball of the final over. Terrance Hinds chopped Primus onto his stumps, and Hosein was run out off the penultimate delivery of the match despite Sam Billings’ fumble with the gloves when breaking the stumps.

A nail-biting match thus brought the game down to the last ball, with Waqar Salamkheil needing to strike a six to tie the game and send it to a Super Over. It wasn’t to be. Salamkheil failed to make contact with an attempted lap, the Falcons players swooping around Primus to celebrate an inaugural win.

“We were searching for that win and grateful we got it tonight,” said Fabian Allen in the moments after the Falcons six run victory. “We were searching for 180 but 170-odd was good on this wicket; we defended well. We’re grateful for the crowd; they supported us right through.”

Falcons captain Chris Green was mightily pleased with his side’s ability to show character and defend their total.

“We have had a tough time here at home; we were not at our best in the last couple of games. I’m really happy for the fans and for my team. We still have to carry on playing this positive, aggressive brand of cricket. I think we showed ourselves what we can do. Nothing needs to change.”

Barbados Pride followed up their batting performance with a decent all-round bowling effort, as they tightened their grip on the West Indies Championship contest against Combined Campuses and Colleges Marooners at Chedwin Park, in Jamaica.

The Marooners closed Friday’s third day on 96-2 in their second innings, still 63 runs behind with eight wickets intact, as they were forced to follow-on after their first innings folded at 185. Shamarh Brooks, on 44, and Shatrughan Rambaran, on 15, will resume batting on Saturday’s final day.

Scores: Barbados Pride 344-8 dec (72.2 overs); Combined Campuses and Colleges Marooners 185 & 96-2 (37 overs)

Resuming on their overnight score of 10-1 in response to Pride’s massive total, the Marooners struggled to contend with the bowling of Jomel Warrican, Akeem Jordan and Chaim Holder, as their first innings crumbled early in the day.

Captain Jonathan Carter with a patient 131-ball 59, and Shaqkere Parris with a 108-ball 44, were the only batsmen to offer minimal resistance, with Demario Richards (28) the next best score.

Warrican grabbed 4-29 in 22.3 overs, while Holder and Jordan had 3-71 and 2-30 respectively.

Still 159 runs at that point, the Marooners would have hoped for a more compact batting display on the second occasion. But those hopes were dampened when Jordan and Holder again combined to remove the opening pair of Parris (five) and Kirstan Kallicharan (24) respectively.

However, Brooks and Rambaran remained composed to not only limit the damage, but also offer the Marooners another glimmer of hope of possibly seeing out the final day for a draw.

Elsewhere at Conaree Cricket Centre, in St Kitts, no play was again possible for a second straight day between Trinidad and Tobago Red Force and reigning champions Guyana Harpy Eagles. This was due to a waterlogged field following heavy rains on Thursday.

Scores: Trinidad & Tobago Red Force 215 for four (Jason Mohammed 100 not out, Tion Webster 50, Amir Jangoo 27, Vikash Mohan 20 not out; Ronsford Beaton 2-39, Veerasammy Permaul 2-42) vs Guyana Harpy Eagles.

In a thrilling clash at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, Trinidad, the West Indies Academy launched their 2023 CG United Insurance Super50 Cup campaign with a resounding 29-run victory over Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) on Thursday.

The West Indies Academy put on a stunning display of batting prowess, amassing a formidable total of 318-8 in their allotted 50 overs. Their victory was anchored by remarkable half-centuries from Teddy Bishop, Matthew Nandu, and Leonardo Julien. The trio's collective performance set the stage for a dominant showing.

Former West Indies Under-19 standout, Teddy Bishop, was the standout performer, narrowly missing out on a century with his sensational innings of 95 runs off just 75 deliveries. His knock included an impressive 14 boundaries and one towering six. Joining Bishop in the batting spectacle was Guyana's first-class opener, Nandu, who announced his List-A debut in style, contributing a solid 84 runs from 92 balls, featuring seven boundaries and a six.

Julien also played a pivotal role, contributing 51 runs from 67 deliveries, including three boundaries and two powerful sixes. Nyeem Young provided a late flurry of runs with his quick-fire 24 off 14 balls, embellished with three boundaries and a maximum.

Isai Thorne took 3-65 off 10 overs and Abhijai Mansingh 2-55 off 10 for the CCC.

The West Indies Academy's impressive batting display was complemented by a determined bowling effort. The CCC team had a mountain to climb to chase down the challenging target. Despite valiant efforts from their top-order batsmen, including Johann Jeremiah, who raced to 82 off 65 balls before being run out and Shaqkere Parris’ 52 off 74 balls, the combined team could not breach the Academy's total.

Guyana’s Akshaya Persaud contributed 28 runs off 30 deliveries, while Shatrughan Rambaran and Abhijai Mansingh chipped in with 26 and 24 runs, respectively.

The West Indies Academy's bowlers displayed their mettle in defending the target. Nyeem Young led the attack with an impressive 3-80 off 10 overs, while Kelvin Pitman and Joshua Bishop provided crucial support, taking two wickets each.

 Pitman's figures read 2-37 off six overs, while Joshua Bishop accounted for 2-58 off his 10 overs.

A century from Matthew Nandu and half-centuries from Shaqkere Parris and Kevin Wickham led West Indies U19s to a comprehensive victory of 169 runs over Papua New Guinea in the Plate Quarter-Final Round of the tournament of the ICC U19 World Cup in Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday.

Nandu scored 128 as the West Indies made 317-6, their highest score of the tournament.

The 18-year-old Guyanese faced 134 balls and hit 15 fours and two sixes in his match-winning knock. He shared in an opening stand of 155 with Parris before the latter was dismissed by Rasan Kevau for 64 from 89 balls with eight fours and two sixes.

Teddy Bishop and Nandu took the score to 191 when Bishop was bowled by Patrick Nou for 15.

Wickham joined Nandu at the crease and together mounted a third-wicket stand of 107 that took the West Indies to 298 when the Caribbean youngsters suffered a late middle-order collapse.

The drama unfolded in the 49^th over when Boio Ray removed Nandu with the second ball, Rivaldo Clarke first ball and then with the fifth ball of the over dismissed Jordan Johnson, who also failed to score.

It was left to Wickham, who remained unbeaten on 61, to take the West Indies past 300.

Ray finished with figures of 3-43 and was PNG’s best bowler.

Needing 318 for an unlikely victory, PNG were bowled out for 148 in 37.4 overs. Aue Oru top-scored with an unbeaten 27 while Peter Karoho contributed 21. Barnabas Maha made 15 as Nandu took 2-14, McKenny Clarke 2-34 and Isai Thorne (2-30) combined to destroy the PNG batting.