CPL 2025
Jason Holder stunned the Royals for the second time this season © Getty
In a must-win game for both sides, St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots won an absolute thriller of a contest as they defended the target of 150 by the barest of margins – one run – against the Barbados Royals in Bridgetown. Just as in the reverse fixture between the two sides three weeks ago, Jason Holder came clutch again with an undefeated 53 off 30 balls and defended 13 runs in the final over. The loss sees the Royals eliminated from the CPL playoffs race.
The final over began with Rassie van der Dussen smoking Holder out of the ground to bring the equation down to 7 off 5. But Holder then executed his wide yorkers to bring it down to 2 off 1. He nailed a yorker off the final delivery against Daniel Sams to give the Patriots a chance to breathe for another day.
Quinton de Kock and Brandon King gave the hosts a brisk start in the PowerPlay in chase. King in particular looked menacing in his 29, with three sixes before losing his off-stump with an attempted reverse sweep. The departure of King slowed down the scoring for the Royals in the middle overs. Naseem Shah and Naveen Bidaisee were amongst the wickets including that of de Kock as the Royals slipped to 61 for 3. The runs began to come a lot quicker as Sherfane Rutherford found the stands twice but just when things were starting to look ominous, Bidaisee picked up the southpaw.
The onus fell on van der Dussen and Rovman Powell to take the mantle of the chase and the South African picked Waqar Salamkheil’s googlies to score timely boundaries. Powell briefly displayed his power hitting with a four and a six before Salamkheil got him to hole out to long-off. With 34 required off the last three overs, Naseem bowled well to give away just four runs while Holder conceded just five and picked up the wicket of Chris Green as well. The 19th over saw the Royals score 12 to bring it down to 13 off the last over which turned out to be a run too far for the hosts.
Earlier, Mohammad Rizwan got off the blocks immediately with a boundary and was dropped in the second over off Green. Despite this, the Patriots openers struggled to find much timing in the first half of the PowerPlay. Andre Fletcher smashed then Green out of the stadium while Rizwan followed it up with consecutive boundaries. Rizwan continued to find the gaps but Fletcher fell on the last ball of the PowerPlay, He was cramped for room and managed to dab the ball towards backward-point.
Sams scalped Evin Lewis for a golden duck to bring the Royals right back into the contest. The two quick wickets meant the Patriots had to consolidate their innings and rebuild a partnership. But in the 10th over, Green struck twice. First, removing Kyle Mayers before picking up the dangerous Rizwan three balls later. Holder came to the crease and made his intentions clear with a six down the ground. At 84 for 5, the tide seemed to be going only one way after 14 overs. But Holder had other intentions as he hit two sixes and a four in an 18-run 15th over.
Bidaisee too chipped in with a couple of boundaries and a six to keep Holder company while the lanky Barbadian continued to be the aggressor. Holder brought up the 50-run stand following a six over square-leg and soon moved to his own 50. Bosch scalped two wickets in the final over as the Patriots finished on 150.
Brief Scores:St. Kitts and Patriots 150/7 in 20 overs (Jason Holder 53*, Mohammad Rizwan 39; Eathan Bosch 3-26, Chris Green 2-18) beat Barbados Royals 149/7 in 20 overs (Rassie van der Dussen 37*, Brandon King 29; Navian Bidaisee 2-24, Waqar Salamkheil 2-27) by 1 run
© Cricbuzz
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