Falcons end Guyana's unbeaten run and go top with a 65-run win at Providence

Alzarri Joseph took three wickets in his first two overs and the Amazon Warriors were bowled out for 117 in front of their own crowd

Antigua and Barbuda Falcons beat Guyana Amazon Warriors by 65 runs at Providence Stadium, ending a six-match winning run and taking top spot in the Caribbean Premier League.

The Falcons made 182 for 5 after being put in, and Guyana were dismissed for 117 in 14.2 overs.

The win takes Antigua and Barbuda to 13 points at the head of the table.

Shadab Khan's nine balls

Shadab Khan was the difference at both ends of the match. He came in late and made an unbeaten 30 from nine balls, an innings that turned a competitive total into an awkward one.

He then took two wickets, including Dwaine Pretorius with a googly that beat him comprehensively.

Thirty from nine is the kind of cameo that does not show up in an average but decides a game. Without it the Falcons finish around 150 and Guyana chase it.

The Falcons had been put in and were not fluent for much of their innings. Reaching 182 owed as much to the last two overs as to anything that preceded them.

Joseph breaks the chase in two overs

Guyana began the chase quickly, which is what a side with six straight wins does. Then Alzarri Joseph took three wickets across his first two overs and the innings never re-formed.

Joseph finished with 4 for 41, and Sufyan Moqim added two as the Warriors lost their last wickets in a heap.

Being bowled out inside 15 overs chasing 183 is not a failed chase so much as an abandoned one.

Joseph bowling at the top of his mark with a new ball at Providence is about as difficult a proposition as the competition offers, and Guyana had no way of playing him out.

The end of a streak

Guyana had wo six in a row, including the match in which Mohammad Nabi carried them to a sixth straight victory earlier in the week.

Losing at Providence, where they are hardest to beat, makes it a worse night than the scoreline alone suggests.

They remain well placed for the playoffs. The aura of a side nobody had beaten is gone.

Streaks in a short franchise league are fragile things. Six wins built on chasing well can end the moment a side is asked to chase something awkward against a bowler in rhythm.

What it means for the table

Antigua and Barbuda's 13 points put them top with the league stage closing, which matters because the top two get two chances in the playoffs and the third and fourth get one.

For a franchise that has spent recent seasons in the lower half, finishing the group phase at the top would be the strongest position they have held.

Scorecard: Antigua and Barbuda Falcons 182 for 5 in 20 overs; Guyana Amazon Warriors 117 all out in 14.2 overs, Falcons won by 65 runs.

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