Shakib joins 500 club as Falcons take down Patriots as Karima Gore struck an unbeaten half-century to see a 134-run chase.
On Sunday, Shakib Al Hasan became the fifth person in history to collect 500 wickets in Twenty20 cricket. In a game-winning effort against the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, he bowled just two overs but took three wickets for eleven, solidifying the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons’ position atop the CPL 2025 points standings.
To break the record, Shakib had to deceive Mohammad Rizwan in flight and secure a caught and bowled in just six balls. He tripled his season total with two more wickets and held the former champions to a pitiful 133 for 9 in North Sound.
After being put in to bat, the Patriots struggled, with only Evin Lewis (32 off 31) and Rizwan (30 off 26) scoring more than 18 runs. Three run-outs and four single-figure scores typified an innings that never quite went as planned.
The Falcons were more equipped to handle the challenging batting conditions when they had a target in front of them, but even they occasionally experienced problems. With stats of 1 for 16, Afghanistan wristspinner Waqar Salamkheil maintained his exceptional form as the season’s leading wicket-taker. However, the Patriots needed more than one guy to execute their defensive.
As the Bangladeshi all-rounder displayed his other talent, they ran into Shakib once more, this time with the bat. In T20 cricket, four other guys have taken 500 wickets, although none of them have scored nearly as many runs as he has (7574). Before hitting Ashmead Nedd for a six down the ground and reverse-sweeping the next ball for four to speed up the Falcons’ run to the finish line, Shakib was 3 off seven balls.
When Shakib fell, the Falcons needed to score 28 runs from 30 balls. To relieve the pressure, Karima Gore, who was serving as the anchor up until that point, established a few boundaries. In addition, he hit the game-winning boundary, finishing the chase with two balls remaining and reaching his fifty.