Royals claim second successive WCPL title

The Barbados Royals won their second consecutive Women’s Caribbean Premier League title when they defeated the Trinbago Knight Riders by four runs in the final at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in San Fernando, Trinidad.

Batting first after losing the toss, Trinbago Knight Riders were limited to 93 for eight in their 20 overs, as Aaliyah Alleyne’s medium pace undermined their team.

Their captain and star batter, Deandra Dottin, made just eight before being dismissed by Matthews, and Chinelle Henry had Jemimah Rodrigues caught and bowled for two. The Knight Riders were stumbling on 10-2 in the game’s early stages.

However, there was a 43-run partnership between Jannillea Glasgow and Shikha Pandey, although they had a run rate of less than five runs an over.

But then Alleyne captured four of the next five Knight Rider wickets to fall as they crumbled to 72-7 at the end of the 16th over.

First, she dismissed Glasgow for 24, and after Jonassen was run out for 6 to leave the score at 63-4, Alleyne shattered the stumps of Pandey for 28, Chedean Nation for 1, and Zaida James for 1.

It took the efforts of Kycia Knight, who scored 17 not out, to raise the Knight Riders’ eventual total.

Player-of-the-Match Alleyne ended with 4-21 from her four overs, while Matthews chipped in with 2-13 from her four overs.

In reply, the Royals were well on their way to an easy victory after their captain and Most Valuable Player, Hayley Matthews and fellow opener Chamari Athapaththu contributed 48 runs after just six overs in pursuit of a tiny target.

But off-spinner Samara Ramnath took out Matthews for 13 before claiming the wicket of Qiana Joseph for 14 to leave the Royals 66-2 in the 10th over.

Three runs later, Anisa Mohammed caught Alleyne for two.

Cruising on 85-3 in the 13th over, the Royals lost the wickets of Laura Harris, Rashada Williams, and Henry for just two additional runs to give the Knight Riders some hope.

The defending champions suffered a middle-order collapse to limp to 94 for six from 15 overs.

However, Athapaththu held her nerve to guide the Royals over the line with an unbeaten 39 from 47 balls, along with Afy Fletcher, who scored four not out, making the Royals victorious yet again.