Cameos from Shadab Khan and captain Moeen Ali trumped Dasun Shanaka’s unbeaten 49, as Antigua and Barbuda Falcons recorded a three-wicket win over St Kitts and Nevis Patriots of their first house fixture of CPL 2026 on the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
Seeking to keep away from a hat-trick of defeats, the Falcons’ chase bought off to a poor begin with Amir Jangoo’s dismissal within the opening over. Karima Gore broke free with a breezy 22 however fell to Jason Holder within the sixth over, with the Falcons managing 47 within the Powerplay. The asking fee mounted by the center section, nonetheless, and the Falcons had been effectively behind the eight-ball curve at 85/2 in 12 overs.
The acceleration quickly got here as Hasan Nawaz and Evin Lewis, who was on 24 off 25 at one stage, switched gears. Lewis top-scored with 48 and was helped alongside the way in which by a few dropped catches. Whereas each batters fell off successive deliveries, Shadab wasted no time in asserting himself with two early sixes off Holder. He manipulated the sector expertly to provide the Falcons the sting, though one other double-strike dented the hosts – Holder eliminated Shadab earlier than Kusal Perera was run out.
Moeen took cost alongside Shamar Springer in a 16-run Shanaka over. Springer then struck a 4 and a six off Waqar Salamkheil to deliver the equation right down to underneath a run-a-ball though he fell instantly after. However with seven runs wanted within the closing over, Moeen took Shanaka right down to safe an important win for his facet.
Earlier within the night, the Patriots raced to 51 within the Powerplay due to a quickfire Kyle Mayers begin. However they misplaced their approach within the middle-overs, shedding three wickets for 4 runs because the Falcons saved a verify on the scoring fee. Shadab was the choose of the bowlers, going for simply 22 runs off his 4 regardless of his closing over alone producing 11 of these runs.
It was solely when Shanaka entered the scene within the seventeenth over that the momentum swung the Patriots’ approach. He was dropped off his second supply and he made the Falcons pay, starting with two fours and a six off Jayden Seales. Springer speared 4 wides within the nineteenth over, earlier than Shanaka unleashed his greatest towards Alzarri Joseph in a belligerent 24-run closing over because the Patriots smashed 55 runs off the final three. However even that late surge went in useless as they sunk to their third defeat of the season.
Transient Scores: St Kitts and Nevis Patriots 187/6 in 20 overs (Dasun Shanaka 49*, Kyle Mayers 34; Shamar Springer 2-42, Shadab Khan 1-22) misplaced to Antigua and Barbuda Falcons 191/7 in 19.3 overs (Evin Lewis 48, Shadab Khan 30, Moeen Ali 25*; Jason Holder 2-39) by 3 wickets
