Franchise Cricket

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St Kitts and Nevis Patriots thrashed Antigua and Barbuda Falcons by six wickets in the opening game of the 2025 Caribbean Premier League.

Chasing 122 to win Patriots overcame slipping to 56-3 to win with 30 balls remaining.

Alick Athanaze top-scored with an unbeaten 37 and he shared an unbroken 49 with captain Jason Holder (18*) to get the 2021 winners over the line.

They bowled the Falcons out for 121 in 17.1 overs with Afghanistan's left-arm spinner Waqar Salamkheil claiming 4-22.

Fellow overseas bowlers Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naseem Shah took 2-30 and 2-20 respectively.

United States batter Karima Gore made 61 off 34 but the next highest score was Fabian Allen's 12.

There were six single-figure scores including three batters scoring one and two ducks.

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The Caribbean Premier League returns in the early hours of Friday morning in the UK for its 13th edition.

The T20 tournament takes place across the Caribbean with West Indies' players all involved. It was launched in 2013 as the region's first commercial T20 league.

Six franchises take part: Antigua & Barbuda Falcons, Barbados Royals, Guyana Amazon Warriors,St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, Saint Lucia Kings and Trinbago Knight Riders.

Jamaica Tallawahs beat Guyana Amazon Warriors to win the inaugural tournament and Saint Lucia Kings are the current champions, after winning it for the first time in 2024.

There will be 34 matches played in total - 30 in the group stage, where each team will play against each other twice in a double round-robin format. These matches are scheduled between 15 August and 15 September (UK dates).

Group-stage matches will take place at six different venues: Warner Park in St Kitts, Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua, Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in St Lucia, Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad, Kensington Oval in Barbados and Providence Stadium in Guyana.

The top-four teams will progress to the play-offs, which work as follows:

Wednesday, 17 September: Eliminator - third v fourth (01:00 BST)

Thursday, 18 September: Qualifier 1 - first v second (01:00 BST)

Saturday, 20 September: Qualifier 2 - winner of Eliminator v loser of Qualifier 1 (01:00 BST)

Monday, 22 September: Final - winner of Qualifier 1 v winner of Qualifier 2 (01:00 BST)

• CPL fixtures & table

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Former England internationals Moeen Ali and Alex Hales are among the stars set to play in the 13th edition of the Caribbean Premier League, after being signed in the draft in July.

Moeen, who was part of the England teams that won the 2019 50-over World Cup and 2022 T20 World Cup, will link up with Guyana Amazon Warriors for this year's tournament. He will be joined by 46-year-old South African Imran Tahir, who will captain the side, but New Zealand all-rounder Glenn Phillips is no longer part of their squad.

Hales, who holds the record for being the first English batter to score a T20I century, was snapped up by four-time winners Trinbago Knight Riders. The 36-year-old features in a star-studded squad alongside big hitters Nicholas Pooran, Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell.

Former West Indies captain Pollard will lead Trinbago Knight Riders, who have appointed Dwayne Bravo as their new head coach.

Former Namibia all-rounder David Wiese will captain Saint Lucia Kings, bringing in a wealth of T20 experience from more than 400 appearances in the format. Australia's Tim David and South Africa's Tabraiz Shamsi will also represent the reigning champions, who already had Alzarri Joseph and Roston Chase on their roster.

Other big names include South Africa's Quinton de Kock (Barbados Royals), Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan, Jayden Seales (both Antigua & Barbuda Falcons), plus Afghanistan's Fazalhaq Farooqi (St Kitts & Nevis Patriots).

South Africa's Faf du Plessis, who was part of the winning squad in 2024, misses out on this year's tournament after undergoing groin surgery.