(CMC) – The Barbados Royals did just enough to win their second consecutive Women’s Caribbean Premier League title when they defeated the Trinbago Knight Riders by four runs in an exciting final at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy yesterday.
After limiting the Knight Riders to 93 for eight in their 20 overs, the defending champs suffered a middle-order collapse to limp to 94 for six from 15 overs.
The Royals seemed on their way to an easy victory after their captain and Most Valuable Player Hayley Matthews, along with fellow opener Chamari Athapaththu, motored along to 48-0 after just six overs in pursuit of a small target.
But off-spinner Samara Ramnath accounted for Matthews for 13, before also claiming the wicket of Qiana Joseph for 14 to leave the Royals 66-2 in the 10th over.
Three runs later, Anisa Mohammed then had Aaliyah Alleyne caught for two.
Cruising on 85-3 in the 13th over, the Royals lost the wickets of Laura Harris, Rashada Williams, and Chinelle Henry for the addition of just two runs to give the Knight Riders hope of snatching an unbelievable victory. 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.
Earlier, after losing the toss and being sent in to bat, the Knight Riders never found their groove and were undermined by Alleyne’s medium pace.
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 as the Knight Riders stumbled to 10-2 early on.
The highlight of their innings was a 43-run partnership between Jannillea Glasgow and Shikha Pandey, albeit at a run rate of less than five runs an over.
But Alleyne took over proceedings by capturing four of the next five Knight Rider wickets to fall.
First, she dismissed Glasgow for 24, and after Jonassen was run out for 6 to leave the score 63-4, Alleyne remarkably rocked the stumps of Pandey (28), Chedean Nation (1), and Zaida James for one, as the Knight Riders crumbled to 72-7 at the end of the 16th over.
It took the efforts of Kycia Knight, who scored 17 not out, to get the Knight Riders up to their 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.