For the second time in as many video games, Shadab Khan produced a stellar all-round show as Antigua and Barbuda Falcons received their second residence fixture of CPL 2026, beating Trinbago Knight Riders by 5 wickets on the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium. The victory, which took the Falcons to the highest of the factors desk, was underlined by Shadab’s exploits, as he gave away simply eight runs in his 4 overs for a wicket earlier than smashing an unbeaten 20-ball 52.
There was a quick rain delay after the toss, which the Falcons received and requested TKR to bat. The Knight Riders raced to 73 within the Powerplay regardless of shedding Alex Hales cheaply, as Colin Munro and Nicholas Pooran blazed away early on, the latter unleashing a number of reverse hits off Moeen Ali. However as soon as Pooran fell within the eighth over for a 17-ball 43, TKR misplaced their approach with Shadab tightening the screws at one finish. He eliminated Munro shortly after Matthew Breetzke fell cheaply, whereas Kieron Pollard and Jyd Goolie failed to interrupt free. Each batters perished quickly, whereas Joshua James did his bit with returns of two/23 from his 4 overs. An unbeaten 34-run stand between Sunil Narine and Terrance Hinds took the Knight Riders to a decent 165.
In response, Rahkeem Cornwall took Narine down within the opening over for 14 runs however was quickly run out. Narine tied the Falcons down, with the Powerplay producing simply 33 runs, earlier than Evin Lewis (10 off 14) and Hasan Nawaz (1 off 8) departed cheaply. Amir Jangoo battled on for a 36-ball 31 however as soon as he fell, the hosts had been in a spot of trouble at 80/4 and the asking price in extra of 10 per over.
Moeen tried a counterattack with a 4 and a six off Usman Tariq however Pollard halted it on 11. Shadab took cost within the dying overs and he was ably helped alongside the best way by Kusal Perera, who pocketed essential boundaries off Narine and Tariq. Nevertheless it was a 27-run 18th over that put the chase to mattress as Shadab reeled three sixes off Nathan Edward, whose troubles had been summed up by him being faraway from the assault for sending down two full tosses above the waist. Shadab made probably the most of his momentum, slamming Hinds for 2 extra sixes – together with the successful hit that bought him to his fifty. He turned a tough chase right into a cakewalk ultimately because the Falcons continued their spectacular run at residence.
Temporary Scores: Trinbago Knight Riders 165/6 in 20 overs (Colin Munro 46, Nicholas Pooran 43; Rahkeem Cornwall 2-17, Joshua James 2-23, Shadab Khan 1-8) misplaced to Antigua and Barbuda Falcons 168/5 in 18.3 overs (Shadab Khan 52*, Kusal Perera 34*; Terrance Hinds 2-36) by 5 wickets
