Patriots won the toss and asked the Royals to bat first. The Jason Holder-led side posted 160/8 on the board in their allotted 20 overs. During the first innings, Patriots’ speedster Paul van Meekeren bowled a sensational delivery to get rid of batter Shai Hope.
It all happened in the fourth over when the right-armer bowled a cross-seam back of a length delivery, and Hope was on the backfoot. The ball did not bounce as much as Hope would have expected as the red-leather snuck under his bat only to crash into the middle stump.
Here is the video:
For the Royals, Smit Patel was the main highlight, scoring a remarkable half-century to take his team to a competitive total. Patel made 54 off 48 balls with the help of three fours and two sixes. Van Meekeren, who dismissed Hope, also got rid of Azam Khan to complete two scalps. However, the pick of the bowlers for the Patriots was skipper Dwayne Bravo.
Bravo bagged a four-wicket haul, including the prized scalp of Patel. The star all-rounder conceded 26 runs in his quota of 4 overs.
In reply, the Patriots chased down the target in 20 overs with two wickets in hand. Chris Gayle (42) and opener Devon Thomas (26) played valuable knocks at the top before the middle-order collapsed. The likes of Fabian Allen (3), Sherfane Rutherford (1), Ravi Bopara (1) and Bravo (9) failed to contribute with their willows.
However, the tailender pair of Dominic Drakes and Sheldon Cottrell completely changed the course of the match and took their team over the finish line. The duo went on to add a crucial 29 runs for the eighth wicket. While Drakes was sent back at 28 by Ashley Nurse on the fourth ball of the final over, Cottrell remained unbeaten at 20 from 7 deliveries.
For the Royals, Nyeem Young bagged a three-wicket haul for 26 runs. Apart from Young, Jake Lintott (2/28) and Raymon Reifer (2/34) picked up two wickets each.
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