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Barbados Royals fielder Alick Athanaze ran in from long-off and realised that Saint Kitts and Nevis Patriots batsman Ryan John’s lofted drive off Rahkeem Cornwall was flying over his head.
Instead of turning back, the young Dominican athletically leapt high into the air and, arching his back à la Shaka Hislop, hauled down a spectacular catch.
Photo: Randy Brooks/CPL T20 via Getty Images
Thanks to Athanaze’s effort, Cornwall’s final figures read 4-0-16-5—with 15 dot balls!
The heavy-set off-spinner’s bowling turned what could have been an all-guns-blazing battle royale between the literally high-flying Barbados Royals and the desperate Saint Kitts and Nevis Patriots into a no-contest.
This decisive intervention in Match 18 of the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) at Kensington Oval on Tuesday was a repeat of his intervention in 2023—the 102 he scored before retiring hurt gave the Royals an 8-wicket win.
In Tuesday’s Match 18, with good support from Naveen-ul-Haq (3/21) and Obed McCoy (2/11), he restricted the Saint Kitts and Nevis Patriots to 110 all out off 19.1 overs.
Photo: Randy Brooks/CPL T20 via Getty Images
And, led by the prolific Quinton de Kock, the Royals needed little more than 11 overs and three batsmen to overhaul the second-lowest total of the season and get to 113 for 1.
Called up for the eighth over at 49 for 2 after Royals’ captain Rovman Powell inserted STKNP, Man-of-the-Match Cornwall made an immediate impact.
Andre Fletcher, visibly disappointed when Kyle Mayers failed to clear Kadeem Alleyne at long-off in the last over of the powerplay, ran down the wicket towards Cornwall’s first ball and was stumped by de Kock.
Off the very next ball, the wicketkeeper snaffled a skier to send back Mikyle Louis for a golden duck.
Photo: Randy Brooks/CPL T20 via Getty Images
Powell caught the potentially destructive Wanindu Hasaranga at extra-cover in Cornwall’s second over and Odean Smith at slip in his third.
Athanaze’s beauty in his fourth capped off “a five-star performance”—as Powell described it—for Cornwall and a soul-stirring one for the throng of adoring home fans.
Naveen had removed the dangerous pair of Evin Lewis and Mayers before Cornwall got to work. He then added the scalp of Anrich Nortje (22, 17b, 1×6, 1×4) to end a defiant 9th-wicket partnership of 36 between him and Joshua Da Silva (25, 29b, 1×4).
The stand would have been worth only 15 if David Miller had held on to a difficult low chance from Nortje at 89 for 8 in the 16th over.
Photo: Randy Brooks/CPL T20 via Getty Images
In the event, it was Athanaze who again leapt high on the midwicket fence to end the innings, pulling down a powerful pull by Da Silva off McCoy that was travelling fast.
Visiting captain Fletcher claimed to be emotionally drained by another losing STKNP showing.
“Honestly, there’s no emotion,” he said. “[…] We were hoping for things to get better but, unfortunately, things have just been getting worse. We have to find a way to win.
Photo: Randy Brooks/CPL T20 via Getty Images
“When you keep losing, it is quite difficult—but you have to find the inner motivation as a player.”
Fletcher did put it into words but it is hard to find any kind of motivation when you have lost seven of eight games.
In the Royals’ chase, the highly motivated de Kock’s 38-ball 59, his third half-century of the season and fourth overall in the CPL, led the way.
Photo: Randy Brooks/CPL T20 via Getty Images
Mayers, Nortje, Hasaranga and Tabraiz Shamsi were never allowed to get on top and all went for sixes at some point as the in-form, top run-getter moved his tally for the season closer to 400 than to 300.
In the penultimate over of the powerplay, he was twice reprieved off successive balls.
First, Lewis failed to emulate Athanaze and hold on to a catch that was sailing over his head. Then, given out by the on-field umpire, he was relieved when DRS showed the ball to be passing over the stumps.
Photo: Randy Brooks/CPL T20 via Getty Images
Together with Alleyne (25, 15b, 1×6, 2×4), he posted 57 for the first wicket and, joined by Athanaze, 62 in the powerplay.
The pair of left-handers then added 51 without being separated—Athanaze, who had a night to remember—getting 22 of them and de Kock getting to 50 off 33 balls with three sixes and three fours.
He would clout Shamsi straight back over his head for another six before victory was sealed.
Photo: Johnny Baptiste/ Wired868
The big win put the top-of-the-table Royals on ten points, guaranteeing them a place in the play-offs.
Powell commented that it was “a very good home leg”, that his team “played some very good cricket” and were “right up there with the better teams of the competition.” He called the crowd’s support “fantastic”, which was his go-to word.
“When you come home,” he ended, “you want to feel like you’re home, and they gave us that feeling.”
Photo: Randy Brooks/CPL T20 via Getty Images
Tuesday’s two additional points also take the pressure off Powell’s high-performing troops who now leave home to take on arguably their two toughest tests before the end of the group stage.
After the Guyana Amazon Warriors and Trinbago Knight Riders face off against each other on Wednesday at the Queen’s Park Oval, the Royals take on GAW a week later at the same venue and TKR two days after that at the Brian Lara Academy.
Those three games are almost certain to decide which teams finish as the top two and thus get two bites of the cherry in the playoffs.
Photo: Randy Brooks/CPL T20 via Getty Images
Summarised scores
Toss: Barbados Royals
Saint Kitts and Nevis Patriots: 110 all out (19.1 overs) Andre Fletcher 32, Joshua De Silva 25, Anrich Nortje 22; Rahkeem Cornwall 5/16, Naveen-ul-Haq 3/21, Obed McCoy 2/11
Barbados Royals: 113 for 1 (11.2 overs) Quinton de Kock 59*, Kadeem Alleyne 25, Alick Athanaze 22*
Man-of-the-Match: Rahkeem Cornwall
Result: Barbados Royals win by 9 wickets
| Position | Team | Played | Won | Lost | No result | Points |
| 1 | BR | 6 | 5 | 1 | — | 10 |
| — | ||||||
| 2 | SLK | 6 | 4 | 2 | — | 8 |
| 3 | GAW | 4 | 3 | 1 | — | 6 |
| 4 | TKR | 4 | 3 | 1 | — | 6 |
| 5 | ABF | 8 | 2 | 6 | — | 4 |
| 6 | STKNP | 8 | 1 | 7 | — | 2 |
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Earl Best taught cricket, French, football and Spanish at QRC for many years and has written consistently for the Tapia and the Trinidad and Tobago Review since the 1970’s.
He is also a former sports editor at the Trinidad Guardian and the Trinidad Express and is now a senior lecturer in Journalism at COSTAATT.
