BR vs ABF, Review | Royals search for first win continues after heartbreaking loss against Falcons

The Antigua and Barbuda Falcons won the toss and put the Barbados Royals into bat. The visiting side put the brakes on the scoring straight away as Quinton de Kock and Brandon King struggled to get going in the power play. Though the Royals went wicketless in the first six overs, they were restricted to a score of 31 with both batters scoring under a run a ball. Despite the sluggish start, the openers began to play their shots as soon as the field restrictions were removed, with King taking the attack to the bowlers and de Kock playing the anchor. The partnership was looking dangerous until the 90-run stand was broken after QDK was run out in the 12th over. Despite the minor blip, King continued to accumulate runs in the middle and got the needed support from Sherfane Rutherford at the other end, as the Royals started to score at a brisk rate. The two batters put on another 73 runs for the second wicket until Rutherford’s useful cameo of 29 off 17 was brought to an end by Obed McCoy in the 18th over. However, a big score was on the cards with the Royals' score reading 167/2 with two overs to go. There was a bit of respite for the Falcons as Salman Irshad conceded only four runs in the penultimate over and knocked over the stumps of Rovman Powell and Rassie van der Dussen in consecutive deliveries. However, Chris Green made up for the double wicket over as he got a couple of boundaries in the 20th over by Imad Wasim. As the Falcons' skipper conceded 16 runs in the final over, the Royals finished their innings on a competitive score of 187/4 with King remaining unbeaten on a score of 98 off 65 balls, which included six boundaries and seven maximums.

Though it was a challenging total set by the Royals, the Falcons’ openers, Amir Jangoo and Andries Gous, took the attack to the bowlers straight away. However, the Royals found their way back in the game as the partnership of 46 was broken in the fifth over by Daniel Sams, who deceived Jangoo with a slower off-cutter which crashed into the stumps. Karima Gore was the next to go as he gave a simple catch to deep backward square leg off Ramon Simmonds in the final over of the power play. It was an even battle at the end of six overs with the score reading 55/2. Though the two overs might have caused a break in the run-flow, Gous kept the chase alive and was supported well by Kevin Wickham at the other end. The two batters put on a crucial partnership of 64 off 42 deliveries before Wickham was dismissed by Sams in the 13th over. As soon as the partnership was broken, the Falcons were in a spot of bother as Gous was running out of partners at the other end, with Shakib al Hassan and Fabian Allen getting out cheaply. However, the American batter still kept the fight alive as Antigua needed 31 off the last 18 balls with the score at 157/5. The Falcons managed to get 12 runs in the 18th over by Johann Layne, but an exceptional seven-run 19th over by Simmonds left 12 runs in the final over. The last over was given to Rutherford, who succumbed under pressure as he started the over with a lot of extras, as the Falcons needed only two runs on the final ball. Shamar Springer hit the winning runs as he pulled the ball towards the mid-wicket region for a couple, and Gous remained unbeaten on a score of 85 off 53 deliveries as they completed the chase with four wickets in hand. 

The player of the match was Falcons pacer Salman Irshad, who bowled a frugal spell of 2/13 in his four overs during a high-scoring game.