Shadab powers Falcons to the top with stellar all-round show

For the second time in as many games, Shadab Khan produced a stellar all-round display as Antigua and Barbuda Falcons won their second home fixture of CPL 2026, beating Trinbago Knight Riders by five wickets at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium. The victory took the Falcons to the top of the points table, underlined by Shadab's exploits, as he gave away just eight runs in his four overs for a wicket before smashing an unbeaten 20-ball 52.

There was a brief rain delay after the toss, which the Falcons won and asked TKR to bat. The Knight Riders raced to 73 in the Powerplay despite losing Alex Hales cheaply, as Colin Munro and Nicholas Pooran blazed away early on, the latter unleashing multiple reverse hits off Moeen Ali. But once Pooran fell in the eighth over for a 17-ball 43, TKR lost their way with Shadab tightening the screws at one end. He removed Munro shortly after Matthew Breetzke fell cheaply, while Kieron Pollard and Jyd Goolie failed to break free. Both batters perished soon, while Joshua James did his bit with returns of 2/23 from his four overs. An unbeaten 34-run stand between Sunil Narine and Terrance Hinds took the Knight Riders to a respectable 165.

In response, Rahkeem Cornwall took Narine down in the opening over for 14 runs but was soon run out. Narine tied the Falcons down, with the Powerplay producing just 33 runs, before Evin Lewis (10 off 14) and Hasan Nawaz (1 off 8) departed cheaply. Amir Jangoo battled on for a 36-ball 31 but once he fell, the hosts were in a spot of bother at 80/4 and the asking rate in excess of 10 per over.

Moeen attempted a counterattack with a four and a six off Usman Tariq but Pollard halted it on 11. Shadab took charge in the death overs and he was ably helped along the way by Kusal Perera, who pocketed crucial boundaries off Narine and Tariq. But it was a 27-run 18th over that put the chase to bed as Shadab reeled three sixes off Nathan Edward, whose troubles were summed up by him being removed from the attack for sending down two full tosses above the waist. Shadab made the most of his momentum, slamming Hinds for two more sixes – including the winning hit that got him to his fifty. He turned a difficult chase into a cakewalk in the end as the Falcons continued their impressive run at home.

Brief Scores: Trinbago Knight Riders 165/6 in 20 overs (Colin Munro 46, Nicholas Pooran 43; Rahkeem Cornwall 2-17, Joshua James 2-23, Shadab Khan 1-8) lost to Antigua and Barbuda Falcons 168/5 in 18.3 overs (Shadab Khan 52*, Kusal Perera 34*; Terrance Hinds 2-36) by 5 wickets