Barbados Royals remain winless after last-ball loss to Antigua and Barbuda Falcons courtesy of Andries Gous.
In a frantic chase of 188, the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons almost lost control of the last-ball thriller in Bridgetown due to their over-reliance on singles and doubles, but Shamar Springer struck the winning runs to solidify their third-place finish in the standings. As a result of their inability to defend 187 following Brandon King’s 98 not out, the Barbados Royals continued to finish in the bottom of the standings with no wins this season.
At the midway point, Royals skipper Rovman Powell believed they had enough runs, but two Royals fielders—Chris Green with four and Daniel Sams with two—went on to drop six catches, hurting their prospects of winning for the first time.
With each defeat, the Royals’ chances of qualifying are getting smaller as they just have one point from six games this season.
With an undefeated 85 off 53, five fours, and four sixes, Andries Gous was the Falcons’ outstanding batsman. However, he hardly got a hit in the final over, when they needed to score 12. When Powell faced England in June, he took a chance by handing the ball to Sherfane Rutherford, who had not bowled in 26 Twenty20 matches. After bowling powerful lengths in a straight line, Rutherford began with three wides in his first four balls.
Imad Wasim tried a second after hacking the ball to long-on, but Quinton de Kock quickly collected the throw, turned around, and hit the stumps, leaving Imad short. This made three off two into two off one. The Falcons won their first away game of the season when local boy Springer collected two next balls with composure.