Antigua and Barbuda Falcons climbed to fourth place in the CPL 2026 standings after securing a tense three wicket victory over St Kitts and Nevis Patriots with only three deliveries remaining.
After being sent in to bat by Moeen Ali, the Patriots made a promising start. Kyle Mayers and Andre Fletcher helped them reach 51 during the powerplay despite Johnson Charles departing for 17 from 14 balls.
Mayers and Fletcher shared 57, although their partnership consumed 41 deliveries and prevented the scoring rate from accelerating. Fletcher managed 20 from 24 before both batters were removed during the tenth over. Kevin Wickham then fell cheaply to Shadab Khan, leaving the Patriots struggling at 80 for 4 after 11 overs.
Jason Holder and Nikhil Chaudhary added 46 for the fifth wicket, but the innings only found real momentum when Dasun Shanaka arrived. The Sri Lankan produced a spectacular late assault, finishing unbeaten on 49 from only 17 balls. His innings contained five fours and four sixes and transformed the Patriots total into a much more competitive target.
The Falcons began their reply badly when Amir Jangoo was dismissed by Mayers in the opening over. Evin Lewis and Karima Gore steadied the chase with a 34 run partnership before Lewis combined with Hasan Nawaz for another 78.
Lewis made 48 from 38 deliveries, while Nawaz contributed 33 from 28. Their departures left the Falcons needing 74 runs with fewer than six overs remaining.
Shadab then changed the contest with a powerful 30 from just 12 balls. Moeen supported him with an unbeaten 25 from 12, while Shamar Springer struck 15 from six deliveries.
Those late contributions proved decisive as the Falcons completed the chase with three balls to spare, moving up to fourth while the Patriots remained rooted to the bottom of the seven team standings.
