Holder comes through for the Patriots, who live to fight another day

In a game that both teams had to win, the St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots beat the Barbados Royals in Bridgetown by the smallest of margins, one run, while defending a target of 150. Jason Holder came through again, scoring 53 runs off 30 balls without getting out and defending 13 runs in the last over, much like he did in the last game between the two teams three weeks ago. The Royals are out of the CPL playoffs after they lost.

Rassie van der Dussen hit Holder out of the ground to start the last over, bringing the score down to 7 off 5. But Holder then threw his wide yorkers to make it 2 off 1. He hit a yorker off the last pitch against Daniel Sams, which gave the Patriots a chance to breathe for another day.

Quinton de Kock and Brandon King got the home team off to a quick start in the PowerPlay chase. King, in particular, looked dangerous in his 29, hitting three sixes before losing his off-stump while trying to reverse sweep. The Royals' scoring slowed significantly in the middle overs after King left. Naseem Shah and Naveen Bidaisee took wickets, including de Kock's, as the Royals fell to 61 for 3. The runs started to pour in a lot faster as Sherfane Rutherford hit the stands twice, but just when things were starting to seem bad, Bidaisee scooped up the left-handed player.

Van der Dussen and Rovman Powell were in charge of the chase, and the South African picked Waqar Salamkheil's googlies to hit timely boundaries. Powell smashed a four and a six to show off his power hitting, but Salamkheil got him to hole out to long-off. Naseem bowled excellently and only gave up four runs in the last three overs, while Holder only gave up five and got Chris Green out as well. The Royals scored 12 runs in the 19th over, leaving them with 13 to get in the penultimate over, which was too many for the hosts.

Mohammad Rizwan got off to a quick start with a boundary, but he was caught out in the second over by Green. The Patriots' starters had a hard time getting their timing right in the first half of the PowerPlay, too. Andre Fletcher hit Green out of the stadium, and Rizwan backed that up with two more boundaries. Rizwan kept finding the openings, but Fletcher landed on the last ball of the PowerPlay. He didn't have much room, but he was able to dab the ball toward backward-point.

Sam's got Evin Lewis out for a golden duck, which brought the Royals right back into the game. The two quick wickets forced the Patriots to regroup and rebuild their innings. But Green hit twice in the 10th over. First, getting rid of Kyle Mayers and then getting Rizwan three balls later. Holder walked to the crease and made his intentions apparent with a six down the ground. After 14 overs, the score was 84 for 5, and it looked like the tide was only flowing one way. But Holder had other plans; he smacked two sixes and a four in the 15th over, which was worth 18 runs.

Bidaisee also hit a few boundaries and a six to keep Holder company while the tall Barbadian kept being the aggressor. Holder talked about the 50-run stand after a six over square-leg and then quickly got to his own 50. Bosch took two wickets in the last over, and the Patriots ended up with 150 runs.

St. Kitts and Patriots scored 150 runs in 20 overs, with Jason Holder scoring 53 runs and Mohammad Rizwan scoring 39 runs. Eathan Bosch took 3 wickets for 26 runs, and Chris Green took 2 wickets for 18 runs. Barbados Royals scored 149 runs in 20 overs, with Rassie van der Dussen scoring 37 runs and Brandon King scoring 29 runs. Navian Bidaisee took 2 wickets for 24 runs, and Waqar Salamkheil took 2 wickets for 27 runs.