Dunith Wellalage battled calmly through the middle overs before Young’s late heroics sealed a thrilling triumph for the Royals. Dunith Wellalage‘s all-round show served the Royals well in the game as he picked up 3 for 35 before scoring an important 39 off 32. Chasing 154 for victory, a collective batting performance helped the Royals over the line with one ball to spare, with Nyeem Young’s 17* off 7 being a crucial contribution in the end as the Patriots endured their fourth successive loss.
Dunith Wellalage the star of bowling also shone with the bat making 39 runs, the highest runs for his franchise during the chase in this match. The Caribbean Premier League 2024 continued to deliver exciting cricket, with the 9th game between the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots and the Barbados Royals being no exception. The match, played at Warner Park in Basseterre, St Kitts, was a nail-biter that went down to the wire.
Pitch and Toss
Down the ground it’s 68m and the shorter of the square boundaries is 63m. We are using the same pitch we used in the last three matches at Warner Park. The runs have been flowing here. The fast bowlers can use the wide yorker option and then they can also bowl at a good length outside off. The other option is to go for the short delivery that creates that aggression, reckons Daren Ganga
Barbados Royals skipper Rovman Powell won the toss and have opted to field with Alick Athanaze misses out due to a finger injury and young Kadeem Alleyne comes in. St Kitts and Nevis Patriots skipper Andre Fletcher batting first made one change bringing in Wanindu Hasaranga for Odean Smith.
A disastrous start for the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots as Dunith Wellalage’s 3 wickets restricted them to 153
The St Kitts and Nevis Patriots faced an uphill battle early on as they lost their first three wickets for just 0 runs. Evin Lewis, Kyle Mayers, and Andre Fletcher were all dismissed cheaply for a duck, leaving the Patriots reeling. However, the experienced duo of Mikyle Louis and Wanindu Hasaranga steadied the ship with a crucial partnership.
Louis played a responsible knock of 30 runs, while Hasaranga contributed a valuable 40 runs. Despite the efforts of Louis and Hasaranga, the Patriots’ innings was constantly disrupted by wickets. Sherfane Rutherford and Josh Clarkson added a few more runs to the total, but the Patriots were eventually outplayed for 153 runs with a loss of 8 wickets in 20 overs. Maheesh Theekshana and Dunith Wellalage were the pick of the bowlers for the Royals, sharing 5 wickets in between them, picking up 2 wickets and 3 wickets.
Earlier, after being asked to bat, the Patriots had a disastrous start as the top three fell without scoring. Evin Lewis was trapped in front by Maheesh Theekshana and had Mayers bowled while Dunith Wellalage had Andre Fletcher out lbw. Patriots, though, managed to fight back through a counter-attacking 82-run stand between Hasaranga and Mikyle Louis. Hasaranga struck 5 fours and a six in his 27-ball 40 while Louis hit two sixes and three fours for his 20-ball 30.
But Patriots suffered another collapse – from 82/3 they slipped to 84/6 in the 10th over – with Dunith Wellalage making key incisions. The second half of the innings was all about recovery and trying to bat out the quota of overs. Josh Clarkson and Mohsin added 20 but took 38 balls for their partnership. There was, however, some urgency in the death overs as John’s 14-ball 29, which came in a 49-run partnership off 26 balls with Clarkson, helped Patriots past 150.
Dunith Wellalage the star with the bat too as Barbados Royals completed a tense 2 wicket win
Rahkeem Cornwall was dismissed for a duck by Kyle Mayers in the first over of the chase, and the all-rounder also ended a promising knock from Quinton de Kock to leave the Royals at 25/2 in the fifth over. Kadeem Alleyne’s 18-ball 30 gave the Royals some impetus as the batter struck a four and three sixes – two maximums and the boundary coming in an over off Wanindu Hasaranga – to help them past 50 before the powerplay was completed.
Veera Sammy Permaul ended Alleyne’s stay and the Patriots bowled a few tight overs to keep the Royals in check. Hasaranga also accounted for Shamarh Brooks after being hit for a six to leave the Royals at 72/4 at the halfway stage.
Rovman Powell got the Royals going again with a six and a four off Mohammad Mohsin in the 12th over. Mohsin proved expensive as he was hit for three fours in an over by Wellalage, who also struck a couple of boundaries off Ryan John. The Patriots had the Royals at 126/6 after 17 overs after Anrich Nortje conceded only six and picked up the wicket of Powell after Dunith Wellalage was run out.
Jason Holder hit a six off Mohsin in the 18th over to bring the equation down to 17 off two overs. Nyeem Young then took charge, scoring an important four off Nortje in the 19th over. Holder was dismissed by John in the last over with Royals needing 8. Young got a lucky boundary and then with 3 needed off 2 he finished it off with a six.
The Barbados Royals’ chase also got off to a shaky start as they lost their first two wickets for 25 runs. Rahkeem Cornwall and Quinton de Kock were dismissed cheaply by Mayers. However, Kadeem Alleyne and Shamarh Brooks started to build an innings with a decent partnership. Alleyne scored a valuable 30 runs, while Brooks contributed 11 runs.
Wellalage the star of bowling also shone with the bat making 39 runs, the highest runs for his franchise during the chase in this match. The all-rounder and Rovman Powell added a few more runs to the total, but the Royals’ innings was constantly disrupted by wickets. Jason Holder and Nyeem Young tried to accelerate the scoring towards the end, and their efforts didn’t go in vain. The Royals were eventually able to chase the target of 154 runs in 19.5 overs, wining the match by 2 wickets and a ball to spare.
Mayers and Anrich Nortje were the pick of the bowlers for the Patriots, picking up 2 wickets each. Wanindu Hasaranga, Veera Sammy Permaul, Mohammad Mohsin, and Ryan John also made valuable contributions with the ball but couldn’t defend the low score.
The Royals appeared set for a crushing win when they reduced the Patriots to 0/3 before weathering a rapid 82-run partnership between Wanindu Hasaranga and Mikyle Louis. After restricting the Patriots to 153/8 at Warner Park, the Royals lost Rahkeem Cornwall and Quinton de Kock early and the match was at a knife’s edge throughout a nerve-jangling chase.
Needing eight runs off the last over bowled by Ryan John, the Royals’ nerves heightened when Jason Holder fell off the first ball after a superb catch at deep backward square by Josh Clarkson. But Young luckily inside edged to the boundary off the third ball before smashing a brilliant six over mid off on the penultimate delivery as the Royals won consecutive games to start the season.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Rovman Powell the winning skipper said : I think when we came here today, we knew it wasn’t a 260 wicket. It was a dry wicket. Credit to the guys for putting pressure on them in the powerplay. Just a case of bowlers win you tournaments and batters win you games. We have quality overseas spinners.
And quality fast bowlers to back them. The key moment was when we sent Wellalage. They didn’t have an offie. With myself, Holder and Young left, we knew they will be under pressure.
Andre Fletcher the loosing skipper said : I am happy in the sense our bowlers tried their utmost best. Can’t ask for anything better. We were 10-15 runs short as a batting unit. Hasaranga got us back in the game with his knock. Even John played a cameo. Sherfane’s dismissal hurt us.
We can look into a few things. We could have been smarter. We still have five games left. I still believe in the guys. We have to believe in ourselves. We are losing but we need to look at the positives and learn from them.
Dunith Wellalage Player of the match for his all round efforts said : I just came to the wicket and tried to play my normal game and backed myself. (On the advice that Powell gave) He told me to play my normal game and he can hit always so he told me to support him. (On playing alongside Theekshana and Hasaranga) They are great bowlers so it feels great to play with them.
The Royals have won a tight contest! The Patriots continue their free fall. They have lost four on the bounce now. They won their first game but have been on a losing streak ever since. The Royals now have won 2 out of 2. They are second on the table whereas the Patriots remain on the bottom of the table. 154 looked tough as the ball spun and batting wasn’t easy against the tweakers.
The Royals started poorly as they lost Cornwall for a duck. Even QDK couldn’t do much damage. Alleyne got a start and Brooks never had one. But then Wellalage and Powell added 49 runs for the 5th wicket and that was vital. Then both fell and it was left to the lower-order to finish the job. Holder fell with 8 needed off the final 5 balls. But Nyeem Young kept his nerves and whacked a sixer off the penultimate ball to win it for the Royals.
The match showcased the competitive nature of the CPL, with both teams fighting hard until the very end. The fans were treated to a thrilling encounter that will be remembered for a long time.
Done with another crazy game of cricket. The Royals have won their second game and remain unbeaten. They join the Kings and the Warriors who haven’t lost yet as well. But the Patriots need to come out of this rut. It isn’t very late for them but it certainly is getting closer to that.