Gore's unbeaten fifty guides Falcons to first win of season
Despite strong spells from Warrican and Mujeeb, fielding lapses cost Royals in a tight finish
Despite strong spells from Warrican and Mujeeb, fielding lapses cost Royals in a tight finish
Scorer: Harshith Gowda | Commentator: Rashad Mahbub
That's all for our CPL coverage today! We sincerely appreciate you joining us for the match. Looking forward to having you all back tomorrow for the double-header. On behalf of Harshith Gowda, this is Rashad Mahbub signing off. Cheers!
Imad Wasim: "It was a great win. I think we bowled really well up front. Rovman played an unbelievable innings, but we always knew that if a person scored over 50 or 60, we were in the game all the time, and Gore did an unbelievable innings. It always boosts our confidence in our team. But the thing is, we have a game tomorrow. We have to turn around as quickly as possible, and what is gone is gone. We can enjoy it for a little bit, but tomorrow is another game. We are all professionals enough. I don't think there are any niggles or stuff like this, but we'll see how he goes. But the guys are used to playing back to back game, so it doesn't affect us. We're going to come hard again and try to win again."
Rovman Powell: "I think batting was difficult early on. Think we could have been different, [Dropped chances] It's just a little bit of rust. It's only the first game of 10. Those things do happen. It's just for us now to pick up the pieces and come better in the next one. [Last over knock] It was pleasing to play an innings like that; I came in to bat when the team was under a little bit of pressure. We needed somebody to bat to the end. So I know once Queenie [QDK] got out, I had to bat to the 20th over. [Post-match chat] It's just for them to lift their head up. Tomorrow is another day. I think we played some good bits of cricket. The only little concern is how we feel. We drop a little bit too many catches. But having said that, I think overall, our game was good."
Player of the Match, Karima Gore: "I put in a lot of work, and I think that I'm feeling very good in the wicket. So, see the ball hit the ball right now. When I first went in, I'd just get used to the pitch, but the pitch seemed very difficult for me. And then, the skipper, Imad, came out and told me, Just hold my base a bit longer and just pump it. And Fabian also came and told me the same thing. And I think that it just calmed me down a bit to see two experienced guys come and even give me small tips just to help me continue pushing forward. I think being captain of the Breakout shaped my mind a lot more. I learned a lot about myself. I learnt a lot about others. [Running between the wickets] I pride myself on running, trying to keep as fit as possible. And they always say singles are part of aggressive batting. So once you can run plenty of the odd boundaries, you will keep going."
10:40 pm The Falcons finally secured a win, and they did it in front of their home crowd! They started their chase with three streaky boundaries off the edges of the bat. Karima Gore and Jewel then began to rebuild the innings slowly. Jewel departed after scoring 28, but Gore continued with Shakib, and they built a steady partnership in the middle overs. This was a match decided by who made the fewest mistakes, and the Falcons did just enough to win. Karima Gore's second consecutive fifty was crucial to the victory. The Royals, however, had a difficult day in the field, dropping several catches and missing runout chances. Their spinners bowled economically and could have taken more wickets, but their poor fielding ultimately cost them the match.
Antigua and Barbuda Falcons won by 6 wickets
long discussion between Powell and Simmonds.
6 runs needed from the final over. Here's Simmonds
Despite strong spells from Warrican and Mujeeb, fielding lapses cost Royals in a tight finish