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The fast-bowling all-rounder Aaliyah Alleyne’s four wickets helped the Barbados Royals win their second Women’s Caribbean Premier League championship. The Royals held Trinbago Knight Riders to 93 for 8 in the low-scoring final before surpassing the goal with five overs remaining. The Royals were the reigning champions and the runners-up in the 2022 World Cup Premier League.
TKR got off to a great start when they were invited to bat, as captain Deandra Dottin, who had reversed her international retirement to rejoin the West Indies squad for the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024, hit Chinelle Henry for a six in the first over. However, after Hayley Matthews, the captain of the Royals, got one to slip through Dottin in the second over, things went south for them.
Henry then dismissed Jemimah Rodrigues, who ensured TKR’s qualification with a half-century in the previous outing, caught and bowled for just two.
Jannillea Glasgow opened the batting in lieu of the omitted Harshitha Samarawickrama, and with Shikha Pandey, moving up to No. 4, they added 43 for the third wicket. The game took a different turn when Alleyne entered the field in the twelfth over. She got off to a quick start, forcing Glasgow to fumble one to mid-off, and then she dominated Pandey in her subsequent over.
TKR came to a grinding halt in Alleyne’s double-wicket 16th over, as she removed Zaida James and Chedean Nation in four balls. She kept the stumps in play at all times, breaking the stumps of the batsmen with three of her four wickets.
Chasing 94 for consecutive titles, the Royals, led by Chamari Athapaththu, shot out of the powerplay. The Royals were 48 for 0 at the end of the powerplay when she hit three straight fours off Jess Jonassen in the fourth over and another three off Shamilia Connell in the penultimate over.
Then, Matthews was removed by offspinner Samara Ramnath, who is TKR’s top wicket-taker in the WCPL 2024. Matthews was caught at backward point by a diving Dottin. After a few overs, Connell removed Qiana Joseph for Ramnath’s second wicket with an athletic catch at long-on.
Athapaththu persisted and sealed the Royals’ victory in the fifteenth over, igniting the celebrations, even though they had lost three wickets for two runs in the middle. For the Royals, who have only dropped one game this season, the outcome was appropriate. With the second-most runs in the WCPL 2024 and a record-breaking 11 wickets, Matthews was named Player of the Tournament.