The 2024 Caribbean Premier League (CPL) has released a detailed statement clarifying the circumstances surrounding the Eliminator match between the Trinbago Knight Riders and the Barbados Royals, following widespread concerns that the rules may have been breached during the game. A power outage during the match, played at the Guyana National Stadium in Providence, led to questions regarding the timing and conditions under which the game resumed, with many pointing to a possible violation of CPL rules.

The controversy centers on a significant delay caused by the loss of power to three floodlight towers at 20:58, after 19.1 overs of the Knight Riders' innings had been completed. Two of the towers were restored within 30 minutes, but match umpires Deighton Butler and Nigel Duguid deemed the lighting conditions unsafe for play to continue.

Despite this, both teams were given the option to resume play under the reduced lighting. While the Barbados Royals were willing to continue, the Trinbago Knight Riders opted not to proceed due to safety concerns, a decision supported by the match officials.

Initially, a cut-off time of 22:52 was communicated for the start of the second innings, with the requirement that at least five overs must be bowled for the match to constitute an official result. However, this deadline was later revised to 23:01 to accommodate the interval between innings, which had not been factored into the original cut-off time.

At 22:51, power was fully restored to the third floodlight tower, and following an additional allowance for the lights to reach maximum brightness, match officials decided to resume the game at 23:01. This led to a five-over chase for the Barbados Royals, who were set a target of 60 runs based on the ICC-approved Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method, which is the universally accepted approach for calculating revised targets in rain or other interruptions.

The target, considered by some to be particularly high, sparked further debate, especially given that the Royals were allowed two powerplay overs with fielding restrictions, which many argued gave them an unfair advantage.

CWI Senior Match Referee Reon King, who was overseeing the match, addressed the concerns, stating: “The Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League playing conditions allow for one hour of extra time to be added to a game before overs are lost, and a failure of floodlights is treated in exactly the same way as an interruption for rain. The priority for the match officials team is always for the safety of players, but they also work to try and see if the outcome of a game, one way or another, can be achieved on the field of play. This was the focus applied during the Eliminator match.”

Despite these clarifications, questions remain regarding the decision to extend the cut-off time and the overall fairness of the playing conditions, particularly with such a high run-rate requirement for the five overs. Some have pointed to CPL T20 rules that state that the match should not have resumed after the one-hour interruption mark, which would have been 10:52 pm, yet the game was restarted at 11:01 pm.

The Barbados Royals went on to chase the target, raising further concerns among fans and pundits that the rules were stretched to ensure a result, casting a shadow over the conclusion of the match.

While the CPL has emphasized that all protocols were followed, the incident has raised critical discussions about transparency and fairness in managing extraordinary match situations. As the league continues to grow in popularity, the CPL's handling of such incidents will likely remain under scrutiny from the teams and fans alike.

An unfortunate floodlight failure at the National Stadium in Providence, Guyana, saw a reduced over match in the Eliminator game of the 2024 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

A two-hour delay whilst the light was fixed saw the Barbados Royals set a revised target of 60 runs in five overs. The Royals made short work of the chase, David Miller almost single-handedly getting his side over the line with four balls to spare by hitting a brutal 17-ball fifty that included five sixes and three fours.

Trinbago Knight Riders won the toss and batted first, amassing 168-3 off 19.1 overs before the lights went out. Nicholas Pooran scored a masterful 91 not out off 60 balls to anchor their efforts with captain Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell adding support at the end of the innings with 17 and 20 runs, respectively. Jason Roy assisted Pooran from the top of the order with 25 off 17 balls after the early dismissal of Sunil Narine – bowled by Theekshana off the third ball of the match.

Although not picking up many wickets, the Royals bowled well to limit the damage and keep the Knight Riders in check, a target of 163 would be chaseable if their own batting card fired.

After it looked like their 2024 campaign was going to be cruelly derailed by the floodlight failure, the Royals would have been mightily relieved to get back on the park and have the chance to keep their destiny in their own hands.

Their revised chase was a frenetic and exhilarating affair. Sunil Narine cleaned up Quinton de Kock with the third ball of the first over, a beautifully flighted delivery that clipped the bails and left the batter bamboozled. The ball before had been clobbered for four runs by de Kock and David Miller hit the next delivery after the wicket for a towering six over midwicket. It was a sign of things to come.

Miller came into his own in the shortened chase, cutting Chris Jordan away for four over point before slog sweeping Narine for a huge 106-metre six off the next over. With two overs left the Royals needed 25 runs to progress. Miller kept his cool, consecutive fours off overpitched deliveries from Jordan were followed by a full toss by the beleaguered bowler that was clubbed for six down the ground. The penultimate over costing the Knight Riders 17 runs.

With eight needed off the last over Miller smashed back-to-back sixes off Terence Hinds to finish the match in emphatic fashion, claiming the Player of the Match award and booking the Barbados Royals a place in the second eliminator after a dramatic night in Guyana.

After 30 matches in the preliminary phase, we have finally come to the portion of the 2024 Caribbean Premier League where a champion will be crowned…the playoffs.

The four-match spectacle, all to take place at the Providence Stadium in Guyana, is set to bowl off with the eliminator on Tuesday evening between the Trinbago Knight Riders and the Barbados Royals.

The loser of that encounter will unfortunately see their 2024 CPL campaign come to an end while the winner will advance to the second qualifier to face the loser of Wednesday’s Qualifier 1 between hosts, defending champions and league-phase table toppers, the Guyana Amazon Warriors and the St. Lucia Kings.

That game will take place on Friday and the winner will face the winner of Qualifier 1 in the final on Sunday.

The Kings are the only team in these playoffs yet to lift a CPL title, finishing as runners up in consecutive years in 2020 and 2021.

The Knight Riders will be looking to add to their record four titles, with the last one coming in 2020.

The Royals are two-time champions, with their wins coming in 2014 and 2019 when they were named the ‘Tridents.’

The Amazon Warriors won their first title last year after being beaten finalists five times from 2013-2019.

With all that in mind, let’s take a closer look at some of the key players for each franchise heading into the business end of the tournament.

Guyana Amazon Warriors

Shimron Hetmyer

The 27-year-old left-hander has had an excellent season with the bat for the defending champions. The former West Indies U-19 World Cup-winning captain scored 353 runs in 10 innings at an average of 39.22 and a phenomenal strike rate of 186.77.

He hit four fifties including a highest score of 91 against the St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots on September 3. Against the Kings, Hetmyer hit 58 in their second-to-last game of the league phase and will hope that form carries over to Wednesday’s game.

Gudakesh Motie and Imran Tahir

On those spin-friendly pitches in Guyana, the Amazon Warriors will need their spin twins Gudakesh Motie and Imran Tahir to shine with the ball. They’ve both been in excellent form this season with 31 wickets between them.

Motie’s 16 wickets have come at an average of 14.37 while Tahir’s 15 have come at 16.37.

St. Lucia Kings

Johnson Charles

The no nonsense right-hander has always had a reputation of being a hit or miss type of batsman. This season, he’s been doing more of the former. He scored the third most runs this season with 366 in 10 innings at an average of 40.66 and a strike rate of 152.50. He’s had scores of 19 and 12 against the Amazon Warriors this season and will be hoping to make a significant contribution against them on Wednesday.

Noor Ahmad

Still only 19-year-old, Afghanistan’s Noor Ahmad was the pick of the bowlers this season with a tournament-leading 18 wickets in 10 matches at an average of just 13.16. In his two outings against the Amazon Warriors, he recorded figures of 3-22 and 2-26 and should get a lot of assistance from the pitch in Guyana on Wednesday.

Trinbago Knight Riders

Nicholas Pooran

2024 has been a phenomenal year in T20 cricket for Nicholas Pooran. He recently broke Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan’s record for most T20 run scored in a calendar year and followed that up with a brilliant 101 in his team’s final league phase game against the Amazon Warriors on Sunday.

In total, Pooran finished with 413 runs in 10 innings at an average of 45.88 and a strike rate of 174.26. In his two games against Tuesday opponents the Royals this season, he recorded scores of 35 and 27.

Waqar Salamkheil

The second Afghan left-arm wrist spinner on this list, Salamkheil has been the Knight Riders’ strike bowler this season with Sunil Narine missing the final four games of the league phase. The 22-year-old took 15 wickets in 10 games at an average of 21.73 with his best figures of 3-13 coming against the Royals in Bridgetown on September 12.

Barbados Royals

Quinton de Kock

One of the premier T20 batsmen in the world over the last few years, the South African has shown his class all season for the Royals. His 434 runs in 10 innings at an average of 54.25 put him at the top of the list for most runs. The Royals have been heavily reliant on de Kock’s production this season as he is the only Royals batsman in the top 15. He also had the highest individual score this season, 115 against the Amazon Warriors in Bridgetown on September 13.

Maheesh Theekshana

In his first CPL season, the Sri Lankan mystery spinner has been the best performing bowler for the Royals. He played all 10 games, taking 15 wickets at an impressive economy of just 5.87 and an average of 15.26.

All the matches can be viewed live on Sportsmax and the Sportsmax app.

Trinbago Knight Riders captain Kieron Pollard is happy with where his team is ahead of the 2024 Caribbean Premier League playoffs set to begin on October 1 in Guyana.

With two games left for them in the preliminary phase of the tournament, the four-time champions have a record of five wins and three losses in their eight games.

“From a performance perspective, we’ve played eight games. Won five, lost three. We’ll take that. The first step in any tournament is to qualify. If we were in fifth place or sixth place it’d be a different conversation. You expect this to happen. It’s T20 cricket,” Pollard said in a press conference on Thursday ahead of their game against the Barbados Royals at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy on Friday.

“Given all the obstacles that we’ve had transpire throughout this season, we’ll take where we are at this particular time. We have an opportunity to finish in the top two. We still have to play good, consistent cricket,” he added.

The major obstacle that Pollard referred to in his comments on Thursday was the number of injuries that have hampered his team’s ability to field their best eleven consistently throughout their eight outings.

“Throughout the entire tournament we’ve been hampered by injuries. We have not mentioned what sort of injuries we’ve had throughout and we’ve had to sort of chop and change. That might’ve caused a lot of discussion amongst fans as to why this one and that one is not playing but we had to battle that,” he said.

Nevertheless, Pollard commended his team for their performance despite the circumstances.

“The way how the guys have battled forward through injuries, coming in at the late stages, we have to commend them for their efforts,” he said.

The Knight Riders and the Royals have met 24 times in the past with the Knight Riders holding a 15-9 edge.

Their last meeting came on September 13 when the Knight Riders won a thriller by two wickets with one ball remaining at the Kensington Oval.

The Knight Riders, currently fourth in the standings with 10 points, could secure a top two spot with wins in their final two games over the Royals and the Guyana Amazon Warriors.

“It’s known in the dressing room what needs to be done and hopefully, all the experience that we have and the exuberance of the youth as well will come forth and we’ll be able to finish the tournament a lot more consistently,” Pollard said.

Saint Lucia Kings laid down an imposing marker to the other three sides to make the 2024 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) playoffs as they racked up 218 runs off their twenty overs and reduced the Trinbago Knight Riders to 138/9 to win by 80 runs and remain top of the latest standings.

It could have been a heavier defeat than it was for the Knight Riders as Kings Captain Faf Du Plessis and his opening partner Johnson Charles smashed the ball to all parts in Tarouba. A 145 run opening partnership saw the ball flying to the boundary multiple times, which perhaps also explained why the first innings took over two hours to complete.

The Knight Riders were made to do plenty of leather chasing and had to wait until the thirteenth over before they could ‘celebrate’ a wicket – Charles departing for a magnificent 89 – caught by a juggling Chris Jordan on the long on boundary off a Jayden Seales slower ball.

Du Plessis made a half century of his own and after he was out – caught on the leg side fence off the impressive Kieron Pollard – Tim Seifert hit 30 off 17 balls to get the Kings over 200. The Kings scoring rate did slow up towards the end, with just 45 runs coming off the last five overs.

Pollard was the pick of the Knight Riders bowlers and came to fore admirably in the absence of Sunil Narine, 4/38 in the circumstances constituted excellent figures and meant his side had a chance of chasing down a still sizeable target.

The Knight Riders never really got close. Losing regular wickets in the first half of their innings saw them reduced to 56/6 as Noor Ahmed’s left arm wrist spin picked up the engine room of Tim David, Akeal Hossein and Andre Russell without any damage incurred.

Jason Roy stayed resolute and started to chip away at the total but when he was brilliantly caught and bowled by Shadrack Descarte in the 14th over and Chris Jordan was removed by David Wiese in the following over the game had gone out of sight for the Knight Riders.

A high scoring affair in the second match of the day in the 2024 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) saw Trinbago Knight Riders end the season for the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots with a seven-wicket defeat.

After winning their first match of the competition the Patriots have lost every game since, but this defeat in Tarouba seemed particularly cruel after they posted a sizeable 193-4 with the bat after being inserted at the toss.

Captain Andre Fletcher led from the front with a brilliant innings of 93 from 61 balls that included shots all around the ground and six sixes struck into the crowd. Fletcher was denied a deserved century, falling short by seven runs when Chris Jordan had him caught by the bucket hands of Kieron Pollard on the long off boundary.

Jordan was the pick of the Knight Riders bowlers and also gave a glimpse of his own Velcro hands by pulling off an impressive diving catch off his own bowling when Kyle Mayers, on 60, mis-timed a short ball and offered up a sharp return chance.

The Knight Riders were clinical in their chase, Jason Roy blitzing 64 runs from 34 deliveries at the top of the order before Nicholas Pooran finished the job in some style, striking a flat six down the ground - his seventh of the evening – to finish the match.

Pooran was Player of the Match, hitting 13 boundaries to finish undefeated on 93 off just 43 deliveries, albeit he was aided by some sloppy catching that saw him put down on a handful of occasions in the field.

The Patriots will rue the dropped catches and the missed opportunity to finish a tough campaign with a victory over one of the favourite sides. The Knight Riders will benefit from a Net Run Rate boost having hauled down the sizeable target with nine balls remaining, they now sit on ten points alongside Barbados Royals and Guyana Amazon Warriors.

 Another intriguing match full of incident in Port of Spain saw the previous evening’s winners, Trinbago Knight Riders lose to Antigua & Barbuda Falcons by six wickets with an over to spare.

The win sees the Falcons keep their slim chances of progression alive and also gave them double bragging rights over the Knight Riders in this year’s Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

The Falcons won the toss and chose to field first, canny bowling restricted the Knight Riders to a below par 134-8, Kieron Pollard's 37-ball 47 giving the home side a shot in the arm on a dewy night that made run scoring quite tricky. Last evening’s man of the hour Tim David chipped in with 25 off 20 balls to help haul his side to a competitive total.

Justin Greaves then played a Player of the Match innings to give the Falcons their third victory in this year’s competition. Compiling a patient 46 off 48 balls he then retired himself at the death to allow a fresh, and bigger hitting teammate to finish the job. The somewhat risky decision ultimately paid off for the visitors.

Hassan Khan played a vital cameo with 36 off 20 deliveries and Imad Wasim was there at the end to see his side home in an eventful 19th over – in shades of the 2019 World Cup final - a deflection off the bat as the batter’s returned for the second run saw the ball run over the boundary rope and six runs awarded to the batting side. Eighteen runs were plundered off the Josh Little over in total with Fabian Allen nudging the winning runs to midwicket to seal the victory and keep the Falcons flying in this year’s CPL.

“To win at Queen's Park Oval is a special thing” said a beaming Greaves in the moments after the match. “We haven't had a great season but to beat TKR twice is good. We’re just happy with how things panned out. To get the win against Trinidad in Trinidad, their fortress, feels good. We have to take one game at a time. You never know..."

The Knight Riders finish the evening still in second position in the table and the Falcons ended it with a little hope that they could still salvage something from their 2024 CPL campaign.

The Trinbago Knight Riders pulled off a thrilling five-wicket victory over the Guyana Amazon Warriors on Wednesday night in a pulsating Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) encounter at Queen's Park Oval. A pair of back-to-back sixes from Tim David at the start of the final over sealed the win for the Knight Riders, capping off a match that was filled with drama and shifts in momentum.

The match began with a touch of sentimentality as Knight Riders' captain Kieron Pollard won the toss and elected to field first. Before the action got underway, the team gave Dwayne Bravo a touching guard of honor, recognizing what could be the veteran all-rounder's final game at the iconic venue following his earlier announcement of retirement from the CPL. However, once play began, the Knight Riders showed no mercy, reducing the Warriors to 76-7 with a disciplined bowling performance.

Romario Shepherd, however, staged a crucial lower-order fightback for the Warriors. Shepherd's gritty half-century helped his team recover from their precarious position, steering them to a competitive total of 148-7. His innings injected life back into the contest and set the stage for a tense chase under the lights at Queen's Park Oval.

The Knight Riders' response was anything but straightforward. Struggling to find the boundary during the middle overs, they found themselves precariously placed at 89/5. With the game hanging in the balance, the 17th over proved to be the turning point. Andre Russell, who was named Player of the Match, took charge by smashing three sixes off Nathan Sowter's bowling. This onslaught not only revived the Knight Riders' chase but also shifted the momentum firmly in their favor, reducing the required runs to a manageable figure.

Speaking after the game, Russell revealed his mindset during the tense chase. "The mindset was that I know I can hit sixes and that Tim David is a six-hitter as well. I told him that we had 24 balls, and we had to hit eight sixes," Russell said.

The final over began with Tim David on strike, and he wasted no time in sealing the victory. With consecutive sixes, David secured the five-wicket win for the Knight Riders, sending the home crowd into raptures and ensuring a fairytale finish was still possible for Dwayne Bravo in this year's CPL.

An emotional Russell paid tribute to his teammate Bravo after the match. "Who I am today has a lot to do with him. I am just happy to be part of this game. That's why it was an emotional celebration; he deserved that win... I think he'll shed a tear tonight. This one is for DJ Bravo," he said, highlighting the bond between the two cricketing stalwarts.

The match was a high-class affair, played with intensity and sportsmanship as both teams fought to secure a spot in the latter stages of the competition. With this victory, the Knight Riders move up to eight points from five games, positioning themselves well for a deep run in the tournament. For the Warriors, the loss was a setback, but their spirited performance ensured they remain in contention as the competition progresses.

As the CPL season heats up, the Knight Riders' victory has added to the excitement, and with Bravo's retirement storyline still in play, the 2024 CPL promises more drama and memorable moments in the matches to come.

West Indies legend Brian Lara believes Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) can justify favouritism in this year's Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 tournament provided the team’s pedigree and cohesiveness stand out among their rivals.

Lara’s views came during the launch of his book on Tuesday and ahead of the Trinbago Knight Riders’ almighty clash with reigning champions Guyana Amazon Warriors at the Queen's Park Oval on Wednesday.

While noting that the Twin Island Republic’s franchise boasts a deep squad of high-quality players, which makes them favourites, Lara pointed out that it is their performances that will account for whether or not they take home the title this season.

“I think obviously TKR will stand up as favourites every time,” Lara declared.

“When you look at the quality of players in the team, you would think they should go on to win. But again, in the past, we've seen the team that plays better win. It's not how many superstars you have,” he added.

With three wins and one loss so far this campaign, Trinbago Knight Riders currently sit fourth on six points, four points behind leaders Barbados Royals, who have played two games more. St Lucia Kings on eight points and Guyana Amazon Warriors on six points occupy the other playoff positions.

Antigua and Barbuda Falcons (four points) and St Kitts and Nevis Patriots (two points) are fifth and sixth, respectively.

Being the only franchise to win the tournament four times—2015 as Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel, 2017, 2018, and 2020—Lara is of no doubt that Trinbago Knight Riders can add to their tally.

However, he stressed that it will take more than just talk and quality on paper.

“What we're hoping for with TKR is that togetherness. Individuals may win you a match, but teams win tournaments,” Lara reasoned.

“I'm hoping captain Kieron Pollard will keep the guys together; they work hard, be humble, and get the victory that's necessary,” he noted.

With both the Trinbago Knight Riders and the Guyana Amazon Warriors showing some degree of consistency so far this season, Wednesday’s clash is expected to be a humdinger to kickstart the former’s home leg of fixtures.

England all-rounder Chris Jordan will bolster the Knight Riders bowling attack as he replaces the injured American Ali Khan.

But the Amazon Warriors have also strengthened their bowling attack with the inclusion of Australian leg spinner Nathan Sowter, who temporarily replaces captain Imran Tahir, recovering from an injury.

England international Chris Jordan will join the Trinbago Knight Riders for the remainder of the 2024 season.

The experienced all-rounder will replace USA international Ali Khan who was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to injury.

Jordan previously represented the Knight Riders in the 2019 edition of the CPL, taking seven wickets in five matches.

The Guyana Amazon Warriors have signed leg spinner Nathan Sowter as a temporary replacement for Imran Tahir who is currently recovering from injury and is expected to be unavailable for around 10 days.

Terrance Hinds smashed a six off the penultimate delivery as Trinbago Knight Riders ended Barbados Royals’ unbeaten record in the 2024 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) after a nerve-jangling two-wicket victory at Kensington Oval on Friday.

Chasing 157, the Knight Riders needed 11 runs off the final over and appeared headed for defeat when Akeal Hosein fell off the third delivery with six runs still required.

But Jason Holder bowled a waist high full toss and on the subsequent delivery Hinds whacked a six down the ground off the free hit. The Knight Riders now move alongside the Royals with a 3-1 record.

The Royals had struggled to handle Knight Riders’ spinners and managed to post 156/7 thanks to an unbeaten 59 from 38 balls from skipper Rovman Powell.

The Knight Riders, last year’s finalists, elected to field and looked to continue their dominance over the Royals having beaten them twice last season.

The Royals made a disastrous start when opener Rahkeem Cornwall made his third straight duck after falling off the second delivery of the innings. Hosein struck again just two balls later when he trapped Alick Athanaze for a duck.

Quinton de Kock and Rivaldo Clarke consolidated before the South African was knocked over by a perfect wrong’un from Waqar Salamkheil to halt the Royals, who soon lost Holder for a duck.

The Royals struggled for boundaries in the middle overs before David Miller collared Hosein with a massive six over extra cover in the 13th over. Miller’s cameo ended at the hands of Salamkheil, who finished with a superb 3/13.

Powell had little of the strike before taking over with a slew of sixes, including off seamer Jayden Seales in the last over to reach his half-century in style.

The Knight Riders, who had strategised chasing amid dewy conditions, similarly had a poor start when Sunil Narine holed out to spinner Maheesh Theekshana on the first ball.

Opener Jason Roy started with a couple of glorious drives before being bamboozled by Theekshana to leave the contest delicately poised. After a brief rain delay, Shaqkere Parris was dropped on nine by Holder off Theekshana as Nicholas Pooran took control to steady the Knight Riders.

But his breezy 23-ball 35 ended with a spectacular double act in the deep when Powell caught the ball before flicking it to Holder just before he went over the boundary.

Parris had support from Keacy Carty as the Knight Riders appeared well on track needing 51 off 36 balls. The reintroduction of Theekshana in the 15th over did the trick as he lured Parris into a false shot triggering a collapse from the Knight Riders.

It set up a grandstand finish until Hinds’ late heroics stunned the local fans.

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.”

Members of the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons and the Trinbago Knight Riders received words of inspiration from the great Sir Vivian Richards on Wednesday morning.

The former West Indies captain and batting legend spoke to both camps on the eve of their Republic Bank CPL clash — due to be played on Thursday night at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

The events were organized by Philip Spooner, the Falcons Director of Media and Phil Simmons, the TKR Head Coach.

“I’m a part of the Falcons family, so I came here to see my team and show my support for the boys as they head into the last home game. I’m really impressed with the talent I’m seeing and just wanted let them know that Sir Viv is still backing them despite the tough start,” Sir Viv said.

“I spent some time with the boys at TKR as well. It’s also about helping to develop all West Indies talent meet them and talk with them. I want what’s best for West Indies and these youngsters I met with today are very talented. They are the future.”

A high-scoring run-fest at Warner Park saw Trinbago Knight Riders defeat St Kitts & Nevis Patriots by 44 runs in the third match of the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) on Saturday night. 

 Patriots captain Andre Fletcher won the toss and inserted the Knight Riders on what turned out to be a good batting wicket. Sunil Narine hit three fours and four sixes to get the Knight Riders off to a rapid start and they never looked back. 

 The boundary was peppered and cleared all evening, Nicholas Pooran scooping the Player of the Match award for a thrilling innings of 97 off 43 balls that fully deserved a century. Keacy Carty piled on the pain for the Patriots by striking 73 off just 35 balls in a visceral display of strokemaking, the pair of batters leaving the opposition bewildered in the face of boundaries struck all-round the relatively short-sided ground in Basseterre.  

 Fittingly, Carty hit the final ball of the innings for six to see the Knight Riders post a mammoth score of 250-4. The Patriots cleared the two hundred run mark themselves in posting 206-8 in what turned out to be the highest-scoring match in CPL history between the sides but in truth, Andre Fletcher’s side never truly looked like they were going to haul in the target despite a fabulous 56 from Mikyle Louis with support from Evin Lewis and Tristan Stubbs, who each scored 39.

 Just a few hours before the game began 41-year-old Dwayne Bravo announced that this year’s CPL would be his last, the tournament’s all-time leading wicket-taker and five-time champion writing on Instagram that, "It's been a great journey. This season will be my last one and I'm looking forward to playing my final professional tournament in front of my Caribbean people… TKR is the place where everything started for me and will end with my team."

 Bravo went wicketless in his three overs but along with Narine was one of only two Knight Riders bowlers to go at an economy rate of less than ten runs per over. Narine picked up 2-24 off his four overs and only went for three boundaries.

 Earlier, Pooran looked like he’d reached three figures in style. Anrich Nortje sent down a full and wide delivery in the 18^th over that the batter climbed into with relish. It wasn’t to be, the sliced shot fell into the hands of Drakes on the boundary at deep point and the batter could not hide his disappointment. 

Nevertheless, Pooran could comfort himself in the knowledge that his innings contributed to a resounding win for his side, saying afterwards, “At the end of the day, I want to win matches and tournaments. I want to win the CPL and if I want to do that, I need to keep doing my job.” 

 It was a case of 'job done' for the Knight Riders as they chalked up their first win of the 2024 campaign.