A boundary blitzing innings by Quinton De Kock saw Barbados Royals inflict a nine wicket win over Antigua & Barbuda Falcons in the fourth match of Caribbean Premier League (CPL) at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium in North Sound, Antigua. Quinton De Kock‘s boundary-hitting spree led the Barbados Royals to a commanding nine-wicket victory over Antigua & Barbuda Falcons in the fourth match of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2024.
Quinton De Kock batted through the innings, finding more fluency and increasingly audacious shots in his locker as the innings progressed. He finished the match in some style by driving Mohammad Amir over extra cover for four and then depositing the Pakistani quick bowler back over his head for six to finish unbeaten on 87 of just 45 balls and wrap up a swaggering victory for the Royals in their first match of the 2024 campaign.
Pitch and Toss
“Dimensions – 73 meters straight, 65 and 59 on the square. Looks very flat and firm, a couple of considerations because it is a morning start and also whether or not the pitch will slow down considerably because of the extreme heat,” reckon Samuel Badree in the pitch report
Barbados Royals skipper Rovman Powell won the toss and chose to bowl . The team Royals bowling first tried to mix the youngsters with experienced guys with 2 overseas spinners. Chris Green the Falcons skipper batting first made one change bringing in Hayden Walsh for Teddy Bishop
Jewel Andrews the star as Barbados Falcons scores 145 for 9 in 20 overs
Antigua got off to a top start when Kofi James hammered Maheesh Theekshana for a six and a four in the very first over. But that joy was short lived as the batter was dismissed in the next over by Jason Holder. After a quiet little period, Fakhar Zaman gave his side some much-needed impetus by taking on Obed McCoy for a flurry of boundaries but he too perished immediately, leaving his side in trouble.
Dunith Wellalage then struck first ball to get rid of Sam Billings and Imad Wasim failed to make an impact as well as the batting side were reduced to 47/4 at one stage. Things could have gotten a lot worse if not for Jewell Andrew stitching a vital stand with skipper Chris Green to stem the rot. But just when it appeared like they would recover, Antigua were pegged back again as Theekshana returned to the attack and struck. Wickets continued to tumble as Antigua eventually finished with a below-par 145/9.
The Falcons were inserted under blue skies but struggled with the bat in the face of tight bowling, losing two wickets inside the Powerplay and two quick wickets straight afterwards to find themselves 47/4 and struggling to make a competitive total.
After scoring 50* in the Falcons first match of the campaign against St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, 17-year-old Jewel Andrew starred once again with a counterattacking 48 off 35 balls including three fours and two sixes to help the Falcons post 145/9 as they looked for their first win of the tournament. Jason Holder’s death bowling was impressive, he sent down 12 dots in his four overs and picked up two wickets for 21 runs. Spin bowlers Theekshana and Wellalage also clipped the Falcons wings.
Quinton De Kock and Rahkeem Cornwall heroics in PP sets up easy 9 wicket win for Royals
An emphatic Powerplay from Quinton de Kock and fellow opener Rahkeem Cornwall took a sizeable chunk out of the target, the Royals rollicking to 76 runs without the loss of a wicket in the first six overs.
Quinton De Kock batted through the innings, finding more fluency and increasingly audacious shots in his locker as the innings progressed. He finished the match in some style by driving Mohammad Amir over extra cover for four and then depositing the Pakistani quick bowler back over his head for six to finish unbeaten on 87 of just 45 balls and wrap up a swaggering victory for the Royals in their first match of the 2024 campaign.
Any hopes of defending that total went up in smoke as early as in the powerplay. Imad was the only bowler to deliver a decent over as the rest conceded boundaries left, right and center. Mohammad Amir in particular was taken to the cleaners by Rahkeem Cornwall and Quinton de Kock pretty much killed the game in the final over of the powerplay where he took on Shamar Springer for 6,4,0,4,6,4 as Barbados Royals knocked off 76 runs in the first six overs.
While Imad came back immediately after the end of the powerplay to break the opening stand as Cornwall skied one to fall for 34, Antigua needed a miracle to storm back into contention. That never arrived as Quinton De Kock and Shamar Brooks just opted to toy around with the bowling attack to finish the job. In the process, the South African helped himself to a well-compiled half-century as he put on the finishing touches by smashing Amir for a four and a six. The chase was done and dusted with 27 balls left.
The Royals looked good with both bat and ball and they also pulled off some fine catches and showcased tight ground-fielding to further restrict the Patriots
Presentations and Road Ahead
Rovman Powell the winning skipper said : It’s good to start the campaign like we did, credit to bowlers for justifying the decision and Quinny and Rahkeem were exceptional in the powerplay. The guys looked sharp and ready which is nice to see. Once we have Quinny in the Royals it is a totally different team and my advice to youngsters is to pick his brains and see how much they can improve from it.
Chris Green the losing skipper said : We were completely outplayed in all facets, the way they batted took the game completely away from us. Sometimes gotta tip your hat off and say well played. We gotta up our game and play better cricket and put more impetus with the bat and play aggressive and passionate cricket and show our fans what we can do in the last 2 games.
Quinton De Cock for his 87 runs was Player of the Match said : It wasn’t a big total and we knew it was a good wicket and we knew we had to take down the bowlers in the powerplay. My plan was to bat normally and pick up the boundaries, and try and rotate the strike as well. I love batting with him (Rahkeem Cornwall), he bats with a lot of flair and takes the game forward.
At the halfway break, McCoy mentioned that it was a good wicket and “once you apply yourself, you will be able to score runs,” and highlighted the wind factor as well. The Royals openers, if anything, just translated his words into action. Having recorded the highest score of the powerplay – 76/0 – this season, they just needed one of the openers to see it through without any hiccups. While de Kock aced that role to perfection, Cornwall entertained with a 20-ball 34 that included 5 fours and 2 sixes.
Things did slow down with the arrival of Shamrah Brooks, but the result was always gonna be a foregone conclusion. The mighty Quinton was too good today and when he sets the stage on fire, you just sit back and admire. Unfortunately for the home team, they dropped de Kock on 17 in the 4th over and paid a really heavy price for the same.
Massive win = Massive NRR boost. Barbados Royals sit proudly at the top of the table, while the Falcons languish at the bottom with a hat-trick of losses. Lost all three while defending as well.