BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, (CMC) – When the Antigua & Barbuda Falcons and the Jamaica Kingsmen clash in the final of the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League at Kensington Oval today, history will be made regardless of the outcome.
The Moeen Ali-led Falcons will be seeking their first-ever CPL title, while the Jamaican franchise will be hoping to lift their first title since being renamed.
If their meeting in the preliminary stage is anything to go by, fans are in for an exciting game that will keep them glued to their seats and televisions.
The two teams met in the very first match of this year’s competition, with the Falcons scraping home by two wickets off the very last ball of the match.
Much has changed since then, with the Kingsmen, led by former West Indies captain Rovman Powell, rebounding from losing their first three matches to make the playoffs by the slimmest of margins on their way to qualifying for the final, while the Falcons produced their best-ever performance in the competition by finishing second.
The Falcons have been led by their superb bowling attack, marshalled by fast bowler Alzarri Joseph. It was on show in their Qualifier against the Guyana Amazon Warriors where they bundled out their opponents for just 76, with spinners Sufyam Moqim and Shadab Khan both grabbing four wickets.
Meanwhile, the Kingsmen’s batters have been responsible for their progression, as was evident in chasing down the Amazon Warriors’ formidable total of 206 for four by posting 207 for five in 19.4 overs to advance to the final.
Speaking during a pre-match press conference on Saturday, Ali said he expected a stiff challenge from the Kingsmen.
“We’re very happy to be in a final and things are going really well. We’ve just got better and better as the tournament’s gone on, played quite consistently and obviously with one more game to go anything can happen.
“Unless you win the final, coming second doesn’t really matter so much, so it’s a big game against a very, very good side. We felt like Jamaica was the most dangerous side, they’ve got some match winners and they’re a very, very good side so we’re looking forward to a really good game and hopefully win,” Ali said.
Meanwhile, Powell said his troops would have to come up with a plan to neutralise the Falcons.
“I think to be honest we’re pleased to be in a final. When we sat down as a group before the start of the competition, we outlined three goals; to see if we can get in the playoffs, and once we got in the playoffs the second goal was to push for the final and the third goal is if we get to the final, to see if we can cross the line.
“When you look at it, it’s been up and down for us. When you look at the start and how we started the competition, I think that as the competition got on, we progressively got better as a team and started to find those winning formulas,” Powell said.
“Tomorrow should be a very good game. Antigua is one of those teams that has played the best throughout the entire CPL and that’s why they finished in the top two. They have a lot of match winners, so it’s for us to come up with those little plans and see how best we can get over the line.”