With 27 needed off 16 balls, the Barbados Royals appeared to be out of options. With only three wickets in hand, Shreyanka Patil, batting for the first time in the WCPL 2025, stepped in to face the hat-trick ball. To relieve pressure, she reverse whacked the first two balls she faced. Aaliyah Alleyne then hit a four and a six in the next over, which went for fifteen.
Soon after, the Royals were ecstatic since they had not only won the title against the Guyana Amazon Warriors on the back of a comeback, but they had also accomplished a WCPL three-peat.
While the Royals soaked it all in, with teammates running to help Alleyne, who was flat on her back after hitting the winning run, get back on her feet, Amazon Warriors’ Ashmini Munisar couldn’t hold back her tears. She was involved in four of the Royals’ seven dismissals, taking 3 for 21 in her four overs, including a maiden.
Munisar, 21, turned the game on its head with a wicket maiden in the 14th over of the chase. She dismissed the set Kycia Knight for 31 off 37 balls, leaving the Royals with 56 off 36 balls. In her final over, the 18th of the chase, she eliminated Courtney Webb, who was leading the chase with a 27-ball 31. Munisar stumped Afy Fletcher with her next ball, giving her the competition’s joint-highest total of eight wickets. She had earlier taken a magnificent catch at backward square-leg to remove the dangerous Chinelle Henry, who was captaining the Royals in the absence of Hayley Matthews. However, Patil and Alleyne scored the final 27 runs in 14 balls to reclaim the Cup.
The start of each innings showed the differences in batting between the two teams. Chamari Athapaththu struck two fours in the first over of the 137-run chase, including one off the first ball. The Royals smacked eight fours on the powerplay, while the Amazon Warriors hit their first on the twentieth ball and only four in the first six overs.
Opting to field, the Royals managed to keep the Amazon Warriors at bay despite not scooping up many wickets. Despite batting until the 13th over, opener Amy Hunter, who ended second in the run-scorers’ tables, only scored four runs. Stafanie Taylor was on 15 from 12 balls when she was stretchered off with a leg injury. She did not continue to play the game after that.
Laura Harris appeared to be the Amazon Warriors’ best batter, smashing two fours and a six in her eight-ball 18 before missing the line on Alleyne’s in-ducker. Their score only achieved respectability because of the unbroken 56-run partnership between captain Shemaine Campbelle and Dane van Niekerk.
The Royals got off to a strong start, with Player of the Tournament Athapaththu leading the way. Even after she collapsed, Knight and Webb persisted with the request. Despite being unbeaten in the competition, the Royals’ 5 for 29 collapse threatened to undermine their excellent work. Munisar threatened to make it a pleasant ending for her. Alleyne and Patil, however, denied her.
India
