Ali’s all-around effort brings Falcons’ forgettable debut campaign to end on losing note
PROVIDENCE – Moeen Ali’s starring role with both bat and ball sent the Antigua & Barbuda Falcons crashing out of the 2024 Caribbean Premier League following a 27-run defeat to the Guyana Amazon Warriors in Guyana on Saturday.
The England international hit the top score of 42 in the Warriors’ unimpressive total of 135 for seven in their 20 overs after they lost the toss and were sent in to bat.
However, Player-of-the-Match Ali returned to snag three wickets to help rout the Falcons for 108 runs in 18.5 overs and bring an end to their mediocre season.
The loss gutted the slim chance the Falcons had of making the playoffs while assuring the Warriors, the defending champions, their spot in the playoffs.
The result also secured the Trinbago Knight Riders’ place in the playoffs, despite having four preliminary games left to play.
It was actually the Falcons who dominated the opening half of the match, thanks mainly to a disciplined bowling effort.
Fast bowler Mohammad Amir dismissed Raymon Reifer for five, left-arm spinner Imad Wasim accounted for Gudakesh Motie for eight and Azham Khan made a pedestrian 29 from 24 balls before he fell to Hassan Khan, as the Warriors were restricted to 45 for three inside the 10th over.
And when Hayden Walsh and Wasim accounted for the wickets of Shimron Hetmyer for 13 and Shai Hope for 15, respectively, the Warriors were in serious trouble at 85 for five in the 16th over.
But Ali proved to be the hero during a crucial 36-run partnership with Keemo Paul that required just 12 balls.
Wasim bore the brunt of that assault, with Ali hitting his first ball of the penultimate over for four, and followed it up with three consecutive sixes, before ending with a boundary off the last ball of the over that leaked 26 runs.
Paul then joined in the action by hitting the first ball of the final over bowled by Kofi James for six.
Ali was eventually run out with just one ball left in the innings, trying to scramble a quick single. He faced 33 balls and hit three fours and three sixes.
Both Amir and Wasim picked up two wickets.
Chasing a gettable target, the Falcons were comfortably placed at 41 for two in the seventh over but suffered a middle-order collapse that saw them lose five wickets for 35 runs.
Following the early losses of Justin Greaves (5) and Brandon King for three, James and Khan added 25 runs for the third wicket to put the Falcons in control.
However, Imran Tahir had Khan caught on the deep midwicket boundary for 10 and then he trapped James lbw for 27, to leave the game evenly poised at 54 for four in the ninth over.
Ali then decided the contest by having Jahmar Hamilton caught behind for 12, clean bowling Wasim for seven and trapping Fabian Allen lbw for a three-ball duck, as the Falcons crumbled to 76 for seven in the 15th over.
Captain Chris Green made 17 and Joshua James lashed a cameo 15 from six balls, but the Falcons never got close to their target and were eventually bowled out with seven balls remaining in the match.
Ali ended with 3-9 from his four overs, Dwaine Pretorius grabbed 3-9 from 2.5 overs and Tahir took two wickets.
CMC
SCORES
GUYANA AMAZON WARRIORS 135-7 in 20 overs (Moeen Ali 42, Azam Khan 29, Shai Hope 15, Shimron Hetmyer 13, Romario Shepherd 10; Mohammad Amir 2-15, Imad Wasim 2-39).
ANTIGUA & BARBUDA FALCONS 108 in 18.5 overs (Kofi James 27, Chris Green 17, Joshua James 15, Jahmar Hamilton 12, Hassan Khan 10; Moeen Ali 3-9, Dwaine Pretorius 3-9, Imran Tahir 2-40).
Guyana Amazon Warriors defeated the Antigua & Barbuda Falcons by 27 runs
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