This was an exciting event the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, on September 7, 2025, when the Barbados Royals managed to win the first game of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2025 by defeating the St Lucia Kings by 27 runs in the 24th match of the season. This victory came as a very welcome relief to the Royals who had been experiencing five defeats in the first six games whilst the Kings, although beaten did not fall behind the top points table like the Trinbago Knight Riders but only by the net run rate.
Royal Set a challenging Target:
The game opened with the St Lucia Kings winning the toss and choosing to field, and this was seen to be a good option, considering the pitch at Bridgetown as chasing-friendly. The Barbados Royals under the leadership of captain Rovman Powell however had their way. Their batting starts were a weak one with Quinton de Kock being early dismissed on just 1 run off 6 balls in the third over by being caught by Johnson Charles on the left arm spin by Khary Pierre. At the close of the power play, the Royals had reached the unimposing 39 to 1 mark attempting to gain ground to counter a disciplined Kings bowling assault.
Kadeem Alleyne and Brandon King gave a sorely needed stability with King delivering a composed 42 off 31 balls, three fours and three sixes, and Alleyne a brisk 39 off 21 balls, three fours and three sixes apiece. Their alliance saw the Royals climb to 68 when King was caught by Tabraiz Shamsi in the ninth over trying to take a risky slice which was caught at backward point. A 12th over later Alleyne walked, bowled by Shamsi, who was proving hard to get by with his wristspin, left-arm.
Rassie van der Dussen (20 of 22) and Sherfane Rutherford (16 of 11) attempted to recover but both were soon dismissed by Shamsi and Delano Potgieter and the Royals was in trouble at 120 of 5 in the 16 th Over. Here come Enter Rovman Powell and Chris Green who made a difference by a makeshift unbroken sequence of 71 on only 29 balls. Powell especially was in devastating condition and he was smashing an unbeaten 41 off 17 balls, four fours and three sixes, and his strike rate was 241.18. A series of sixes and a four off Alzarri Joseph by him gave him an unbroken onslaught totaling 19 in the 19 th over, and the Royals ended high at 191 in 20 overs at the hands of Green who scored 25 off 14 balls with two fours and a six.Shamsi delivered the goods that the Kings needed on the bowling side, ending with 3 for 26 in his four overs, as he sent away King, Alleyne, and Rutherford. But the other bowling personnel, Joseph (0 for 43) and Potgieter (1 for 32) were no more able to control the late Royals spurt, where Powell and Green added to the loose deliveries.
St Lucia Kings’ Chase Falters:
The St Lucia Kings were in pursuit of 192, and they needed to have a good start but the bowlers of the Royals thought otherwise. Chris Green hit early, and knocked out Johnson Charles at 1 in the second over, caught by Brandon King. Green was very much pleased, and when he had lost four catches in an earlier match his happiness was extreme, and he gladdened with a smiling countenance. The leadership of the Kings collapsed very fast and Alick Athanaze dropped to 1 to Ramon Simmonds who was proving to be the trump card of the Royals with his pace and accuracy.
There was a short lived resistance on the part of Roston Chase (8) and the wicketkeeper-opener Tim Seifert (24 off 13) who were all out very easily by Green and Jomel Warrican in the sixth and sixth over respectively and the Kings were left at 43 to the fourth. Tim David, who had a reputation of being finishing never die and had a counter attacking score of 44 off 28 hits with two fours and four sixes. But his rejection by Daniel Sams in the 12th over, by de Kock, changed the tide of events and the Kings found themselves at 94-6 with 98 more to run off 48 balls.
David Wiese (17 off 14) and Alzarri Joseph (23 off 14) set the Kings closer later but Simmonds (3 for 28) and Sams (3 for 31) kept the Royals in the lead. It was especially noteworthy that Simmonds swept away Auguste, Potgieter and Wiese and that Sams explained the cases of David, Jones and Joseph. The Kings completed at 164/9 short by 27. The innings was terminated with Khary Pierre (7 not out) and Tabraiz Shamsi (1 not out) at the crease and they failed to fill the gap.
Key Performance and Reflections:
Chris Green was chosen as Player of the Month due to his overall performance having scored 25 not out in addition to taking 2 wickets in 3 overs, including the most important of the game Charles and Chase. His economy rate of 3.67 was brilliant and he was the pioneer of the bowling performance of the Royals. The contribution of Rovman Powell and his leadership as well as his explosive batting was equally important as his 41 not out helped to give the Royals a definite total.
In his post match remarks, Powell spoke of the value of belief and execution, and lauded the way his team had performed better on the field, more energetic. He identified Simmonds as the best bowler in Royals because he could perform in difficult circumstances.
David Wiese, the captain of the Kings, acknowledged that the team had a bad performance due to bad fielding and poor execution. Nevertheless, he remained hopeful as he indicated that these problems would be resolved with the help of training sessions in the future.
Impact on CPL 2025 Standings:
The Barbados Royals hung by a thread as they were at the bottom of the points table with only one win out of seven games despite their victory. St Lucia Kings having won five of eight matches and a good net run rate of +1.300 remained on the top of the table with the Trinbago Knight Riders. The depth of batting and the variety of bowling are the strengths of the Kings, and both Shamsi and Pierre are doing well at this, but this loss pointed to what needs to be work on.
Conclusion:
The 27-run win of the Barbados Royals over the St Lucia Kings on September 7, 2025, was well due to their toughness and their capacity to withstand pressure. The highlights of a match that revealed how Royals could have competed at the top level were Rovman Powell explosive batting, Chris Green all round brilliance and incisive bowling by Ramon Simmonds. To the Kings, it was too late and Tim David did his best but it was not successful enough to take the lead in its first matches and it will be able to see how to get back on track in the rest of the games. This outcome continued to make the CPL 2025 playoff contest interesting, as the Royals gained momentum, and the Kings hoped to preserve their leading position.