That's all from us from the 24th match of the CPL 2025 between Barbados Royals and St Lucia Kings. Barbados Royals have got their first victory of the season in their seventh match. This victory was really essential for them to stay relevant in the competition.
For now, this is Saptak Sanyal, your text commentator signing off on behalf of the scorer/analyst Bishal Mandal. Good night.
Rovman Powell (Barbados Royals Captain):"Just a matter of belief. We did well with the bat. But in fielding, we did better today. We were a bit ahead in terms of the execution. We did a little better there. Lost too many tosses and the thing was that we were behind in the powerplay.
See it is always disappointing for a team where everyone gets nervous when the ball goes up. We have some capable catchers and good fielders but the confidence becomes the matter sometimes. Hopefully the guys can be confident and do better.
[To the fans] Just keep supporting us. We know how much this victory means to us and so to you. We know what it means to represent the Royals brand. We will go again.
Simmonds is a good bowler. A captain needs someone like him to whom he can throw the ball in crucial situations. Hopefully he can carry the momentum forward."
David Wiese (St Lucia Kings Captain):"It was just not our day. Couple of sloppy things at the start of the innings went against us and it was tough in the second innings. Now we have a couple of days before the next match and we have to work on the problems.
Nowadays the teams have become so good that if you are off the mark, you will suffer. But you have to back the players who have played like that. We have had a tight schedule. Need to take the rest and then go to Guyana. We have one game left and we have to do well."
Chris Green (Player of the Match):"I had the best seat in the house when Rovman was batting. He has been brilliant. My job was to just chip in and contribute with the bat. Nice to get a few runs.
If I say honestly, my game was a bit off in the first three matches. I set a high bar for myself. I try to contribute for this team every time I step in. I enjoy the banter with the crowd. Barbados has been great for me. I am grateful. We have nothing to lose now.
Definitely we are playing some good cricket. Probably a few mistakes in the fielding kept us down. I consider myself one of the best fielders and it was tough for me to drop four catches. I was keen to bounce back."
Player of the Match: Chris Green
12:15 AM IST and 2:45 PM Local Time | Barbados Royals lost five games in their first six matches of the tournament but the misery has come to an end for them in the seventh game. They have got their first victory of the season defeating the high flying St Lucia Kings.
Quinton de Kock and Brandon King were the openers for the Royals after they lost the toss and were sent to bat first. de Kock struggled and got life once but couldn't make it count. He got out for 1 and then Brandon King was partnered by Kadeem Alleyne to recover their team. King and Alleyne batted well together. They added 53 runs off 34 balls before King mistimed one off Shamsi to find Pierre at point. He scored 42 before his departure. Kadeem Alleyne replaced Johann Layne today and he contributed with the bat. He scored 39 runs off 21 balls. Two set batters were dismissed and that caused trouble for the Royals.
Rassie van der Dussen and Sherfane Rutherford then had the onus. Rassie was timing the balls well but couldn't find the gap. He hit a solitary maximum in his 22-ball stay but scored only 20 runs. Sherfane Rutherford was looking good. He hit a maximum off David Wiese early in his innings but a wrong'un of Shamsi knocked his off stump over on 16. Rovman Powell and Chris Green scored 71 unbeaten runs together. Powell hit 4 boundaries and 3 maximums on his way to score 41 off 17 balls. Chris Green remained unbeaten on 25 off 14 balls.
For the St Lucia Kings, Tabraiz Shamsi took 3 wickets for 26 runs and Khary Pierre and Delano Potgieter took a wicket each. Coming to chase the 192-run target, Tim Seifert started the chase hitting Jomel Warrican for two maximums in the first over. But Chris Green removed Johnson Charles and in the next over, Ramon Simmonds took the better of Ackeem Auguste. Green also removed Roston Chase to reduce the Kings to 26/3. They eventually got to 43/3 in the powerplay.
Warrican came back and removed Tim Seifert right after the powerplay. Aaron Jones and Tim David were at the crease but Jones got out on 2 and the Kings were 61/5. Tim David then decided to take the bowlers on and he was smashing them for fun. But Daniel Sams took the faintest of the outside edges off his bat and his innings ended on 44 off 28 balls.
Delano Potgieter and David Wiese gave the fight back then. Potgieter hit 2 maximums to score 22 off 15 balls but when he tied to dispatch the slower ball off Simmonds, he found the fielder in the deep. But the lower order kept on fighting for the Kings. Alzarri Joseph hit three maximums in his first 6 balls and was going strong. David Wiese had an off day with the bat and Simmonds removed him for 17. That was the final nail in the coffin and the Kings finished with 164/9 from their 20 overs.
For the Barbados Royals, Ramon Simmonds took 3 wickets for 28 runs. Daniel Sams also took 3 wickets. Chris Green bowled three overs to concede 11 runs and took two crucial wickets.
OVER 20
St Lucia Kings
164/9
Tabraiz Shamsi
1(3)
Khary Pierre
7(8)
Eathan Bosch
0-25(3.0)
19.6 E Bosch to K Pierre
1 Barbados Royals have finally secured a win and it is by a big margin of 27 runs. Short of length at the middle stump. Pierre swivels for a pull but mistimes it to the right of the short third man fielder who cuts it off to keep it to a single only. Barbados Royals have kept their play-off hopes alive.