Antigua and Barbuda Falcons 152-4 (18.4 overs) beat Barbados Royals 151-6 by six wickets, North Sound
Karima Gore likes life at home. Two nights after a brisk 61 in a losing cause, the left-hander followed up with an unbeaten 64 that dragged the Falcons past the Royals and off the foot of the table.
The chase looked routine when Quinton de Kock’s 57 and a violent, unbeaten 51 from Rovman Powell left the visitors on what felt a competitive 151 for six. “Anything over 150 on this surface keeps you interested,” Powell said afterwards, and for a good while he was right.
Early wickets for Dominic Drakes and Obed McCoy tightened the screw. By the halfway point Falcons were 63 for three and shuffling uneasily. At that stage Gore was 30 from 29 balls, nudging, prodding and – in his words – “making sure there was something left in the tank”.
The match turned inside three overs. Jomel Warrican (1-20) and Mujeeb Ur Rahman (0-23) had applied the brakes, but a pair of misfields let Gore keep strike at the end of the 16th. Ethan Bosch’s next over disappeared: 4, 6, 2, 6, 1. The required 45 off 24 had become 17 off 18 and the crowd finally exhaled.
“I was dropped twice – can’t hide from that,” Gore admitted. “You cash the cheque when you get the chance.” The Royals were left counting the cost of those slips plus a missed run-out that would have removed Hayden Walsh for nought.
With six needed from the last over, Gore flicked Joshua Bishop behind square for four, then chipped the winning two past mid-wicket, raising his bat almost apologetically. “First win’s the hardest,” Falcons coach Phil Simmons said. “Nice for the lads to remember what that feels like.”
Seales, sharp and accurate, finished with 2-15, the best figures on the night and a reminder of the promise that took him to Test cricket so young. “The ball held a touch, so hitting the deck worked,” he noted. Simple enough, yet too few Royals bowlers managed it at the death.
The Royals leave Antigua with one win from three and the nagging feeling that 20 ragged overs in the field undid 20 purposeful overs with the bat. Falcons, meanwhile, have momentum – and a No.3 who knows how to finish.
