Royals Secure Third Consecutive Victory 

Article by David Harris

Barbados Royals defeated Antigua Falons by 10 runs in a rain affected match at Kensington Oval on Wednesday night. 

Chasing 177 runs for their third consecutive victory in this year’s edition of the Caribbean Premier League, the Royals were 127 for three wickets in 14.3 overs when persistent rain forced a premature end to the match with the Royals 10 runs ahead on the DLS method. 

The Royals lost an early wicket with only one run on the scoreboard when off-spinner Chris Green had opener Rakheem Cornwall was caught at mid-off by Roshon Primus, but Man of the Match Quinton de Kock (48) and Alick Athanaze (38) added 72 for the second wicket to repair the damage. 

After 11 overs, the Royals were73 runs for three wickets and behind the eight ball, at that stage, the match changed in their favour after Primus bowled a seemingly never-ending but equally dramatic 13 ball over that yielded 23 runs. 

At the end of the over, the Royals had motored to 104 for three wickets with an improved run rate, 13 runs flowed in the next over, by then the rain had arrived and the Royals were ahead by 12 runs on the DLS. 

The match resumed after a 30-minute break but after another heavy downpour, the game was called off with seven overs remaining. By then the Royals were ahead on the DLS by 10 runs. 

Earlier, the Falons scored 176 for five wickets, after the Royals won the toss and opted to bowl, Justin Greaves made 61, Sam Billings got 56 and Brandon King contributed 27; Jason Holder captured two wickets for 36 runs, and medium pacer Naveen –ul-Haq took two wickets for 34 runs. 

The Royals are second on the points table with six points, the Guyana Amazons Warriors are ahead of them only on run rate. The Royals’ next match is against Trinbago Knight Riders on Friday night.