CPL 2024: Noor Ahmad’s spell pushes Falcons to fourth loss in row

Antigua and Barbuda Falcons lost their fourth match in a row against Saint Lucia Kings in the Caribbean Premiere League (CPL) 2024. Noor Ahmad was awarded the title of “Player of the Match” as he was the reason for the loss of the Falcons with his balling spell.

In the sixth match of the CPL 2024, Antigua and Barbuda Falcons started their game with the loss of toss. The captain of Saint Lucia Kings, Faf du Plessis, decided to field first and chase the target set by the Falcons. The decision of batting second worked with the help of Noor Ahmad’s attack.

Bowling first at the home ground of Antigua and Barbuda Falcons, Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Saint Lucia Kings restricted the Falcons at the final score of 142 runs in 20 overs. The Falcons lost 7 wickets in the first inning, among which 3 were taken alone by Noor Ahmad.

Noor Ahmad was the fifth bowler in the attack for the Kings in the lineup of six. He completed his spell of 4 overs and gave 18 runs with the best economy rate of the match of 4.50.

The Afghan bowler dismissed Jewel Andrew on 15 runs in 21 balls, Sam Billings on 14 runs in 12 balls, and Fabian Allen for a golden duck with his deliveries. The other bowlers also collected 1-1 wickets each, except Matthew Forde.

Matthew Forde came out to be the most expensive bowler for Saint Lucia Kings, who gave 31 runs with economy rate of 10.33 in his 3 overs. In the batting line up of the Falcons, opener Justin Greaves was the top scorer.

Justin Greaves collected 36 runs for the team in 26 balls with help of 5 fours. After him, no other batsmen was able to touch the mark of 30 runs. After the first inning, the batsmen of the Kings came out to chase the target of 143 runs.

The target was achieved by the chasing team in just 17 overs with loss of 3 wickets. The inning was opened by Johnson Charles along with Captain Faf du Plessis. The team ended the chase with a sixer and collected the score of 144 runs.

Johnson Charles kept his inning alive till the victor and scored 47 runs after facing 46 balls. He hit 1 four and 3 sixes with a strike rate of 102.17. Faf du Plessis lost his wicket in the power play after hitting quick 28 runs in 15 balls with help of 5 fours and a six.

The match was finished by Tim Seifert, who scored 26 runs in 11 balls on the third dawn. His inning contained 1 four and 3 sixes including winning runs. Shamar Springer bowled only one over for Falcons in which he gave 20 runs.

The strike bowler of Antigua and Barbuda Falcons, Mohammad Amir, was another failure. He bowled 4 overs and gave 45 runs with a economy rate of 11.25, without any wicket on his name. The team of Saint Lucia Kings collected their second match in CPL 2024.

Noor Ahmad was honored for his bowling performance and was given Man of the Match award. With this result, Saint Lucia stands on the top of the points table of CPL 2024, while the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons stays at the bottom.