Bangladeshi superstar accomplishes 500 T20 wickets

Antigua and Barbuda Falcons concluded their home leg with a win over the St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots to consolidate their position at top of the table in CPL 2025. Shakib Al Hasan returned 3 for 11 in two overs, claiming his 500th T20 wicket in the process before the Falcons batters took the team past the finish line, playing around half-centurion Karima Gore. The Patriots, on the other hand, have won only two of their six games and currently sit fourth.

After the Patriots endured two quiet overs from the new-ball operators, Andre Fletcher switched gears, hoicking Imad Wasim for a six and a four to get the scoreboard going. But he perished five balls later to Jayden Seales whereas Evin Lewis retired hurt in the interim. Rilee Rossouw found the rope twice before the end of the PowerPlay but the Patriots were still just ambling along.

Things went from bleak to bad for the Patriots as Rossouw fell immediately after the PowerPlay. Lewis came out to bat again but he looked completely out of sorts. He did gain some confidence and rhythm eventually to smash Rakheem Cornwall for back-to-back maximums. Salman Irshad was brought back into the attack and got Lewis to hole out in the deep.

Shakib came on and despite Mohammad Rizwan scything a six off him in his first over, the veteran accomplished his 500th T20 wicket, sending the Pakistani keeper-bat back in the same over. Kyle Mayers was looking ominous but Shakib removed him and Naviann Bidaisee in short order to peg the Patriots further back. They scored 11 in the 19th over but a frenetic last over saw as many as three run outs as the visitors ended at 133/9.

In reply, Cornwall began the chase with three fearsome boundaries off Naseem Shah while Jewel Andrew produced his own triplet of fours to get the Falcons ahead of the curve. But the big-hitting Cornwall miscued one high in the air which proved to be his downfall.

The scoring rate diminished after the PowerPlay, and Andrew buckled under the dot-ball pressure. Shakib chipped in with a couple of maximums before being stumped off Bidaisee. The Patriots could have made a good fist of things towards the end but they dropped Gore and Andries Gous to let their opponents off the hook. Gore finished the innings by dunking a full-toss in the last over to the boundary, and also notched up his 50 to boot.