Oh, what a night! The Jamaica Kingsmen came ever so close to defeating the Barbados Royal’s in their 2026 Caribbean Premier League (CPL)Sabina Park return.
Fueled by Andre Russel’s doubters-silencing superhuman heroics, the Kingsmen came within five runs of eclipsing the Royal’s seemingly unsurpassable first strike total of 206/3-2o. Russel’s nine sixes inclusive 68, made of just 38 balls, took the Kingsmen to 201/9 in their allocated 20 overs.
Russell most surprisingly received the most crucial support from the teenage homeboy Vitel Lawes playing in only his second CPL match.
Lawes is now known far more for his left-arm wrist spin bowling. His recent 2026 ICC U19 World Cup heroics and subsequent West Indies ODI debut in relation to which have already made him an exciting prospect. But it was with bat rather than ball that he demonstrated his outstanding potential to an adoring hometown crowd, during his first ever Sabina Park T20 appearance.
Lawes’ twenty-ball 32 included four mammoth sixes, each of which delighted his loudly cheering Jamaican compatriots attending spectators more than the one before. So totally unexpected and refreshingly welcomed they all were. In partnership with the rampant Russell, he added 69 for the eight wicket to take the Kingsmen to 201/8-19.4 overs.
With just six runs for victory from two available deliveries Russell however, perished, caught by Clarke off the last-over bowling Symmons. Lawes himself was then run out, backing up too far. And the innings eventually ended with the Kingsmen’s score stuck on 205. Still six runs short of what would have been a most incredible comeback victory.
The Kingsmen lost their first three wickets for just 8 runs within the first two overs. As such, at that stage no one present at Sabina Park would have expected them to get anywhere as close as they eventually did to the Royals’ imposing 206/3 first strike total. The fact that they did was a demonstration of the team’s willingness to continue fighting until the very end.
Despite the loss, now their second successive narrow last-over defeat in both of their first two CPL’26 matches, Skipper Rovman Powell must nevertheless be buoyed by the never-say-die resilience so far demonstrated by his fellow Kingsmen charges. Powell himself played a big part in the Kingsmen’s almost miraculous recovery against the Royals. His 24-ball 38 included four mammoth sixes. Three of which came in succession off the bowling of his fellow West Indies T20I teammate Gudakesh Motie.
The Guyana-born left-arm spinner, now playing for the Royals after initial exclusive CPL seasons as a Guyana Amazon Warrior, however, had the last laugh. Powell’s attempted fourth successive six only got as far as the gleefully accepting hands of Royals captain Chris Green to be caught at long-on!
The Jamaica Kingsmen Sabina-return almost match-winning heroics were a near-perfect second-day culmination to my own return to Kingston. My most recent previous visit had in fact, been back in 2019 for that year’s CPL. I was, therefore, returning after a seven-year hiatus that was identical to the country’s CPL franchise. The 2019 Season having marked the then Jamaica Tallawahs participation in the annual Caribbean ‘Biggest Party in Sport” tournament.
Following an overly smooth, business-class seating, Monday, August 10 WestJet flight, I was accorded diplomatic status upon arrival, thanks of course to my Jamaica Tourist Board hosts ever outstanding arrangements. Whisked through Immigration and Customers in the quickest time I have ever experienced to date, I was shortly, freezer-cold, welcomed Red Stripe beer in hand, on the arranged minibus transport headed to the base camp S Hotel. One of New Kingston’s finest, five-star boutique hotels!
The seamless check-in to my penthouse third floor city views room was shortly after followed by a dining experience at the hotel’s Rocksteady Restaurant. Of such a delight that in all honesty, I now cannot remember ever having experienced before.
The entre choice of pan-seared salmon served with sweet potato and veggies over a lemon butter caper sauce was absolutely to-die-for good. So good as to have left me savoring every single delightful bite and not wanting the meal to be completely eaten.
An early morning fourth-time visit to Bob Marley’s Hope Road former home museum was followed by a sumptuous jerk pork and sweet potato lunch at Kingston’s PepperTime restaurant. After which, of course, was then the trek to Sabina Park for the evening’s heroics.
The view of proceedings from the JTB’s luxurious Box was, of course, absolutely magnificent. As was the provided hospitality which included very tasty finger foods and readily available copious amounts of my red wine beverage of choice.
The highlight of the August 12, Kingston CPL’26 third day was a one-on-one interview with none other than my fellow Guyanese-countryman, now Jamaica Kingsmen all-rounder Kemo Paul. Our brief 10-minute chat was conducted on the JTB’s Tour Bus, immediately after we had both participated in a tour of Kingstown’s Tuff Gong studios. Which, of course, was founded by Bob Marley, and the entire property was subsequently bought for ownership by Rita Marley. A purchase that was completed in 1981, just three months after Bob Marley’s passing.
As a direct result of the attending Indian TV crew’s excessive demands on Kemo Paul’s time, the scheduled forty-five-minute tour actually lasted for almost two hours. Conscious as I was, therefore, of how tired Kemo would have been after the previous evening’s emotionally draining loss followed by the extended tour, I kept my questions to a bare minimum.
The topics we covered in the allowable time were, however, quite expansive. Including the Kingsmen’s very close last-over losses in their two opening CPL encounters, his personal recovery from the numerous career-interrupting injuries he has endured, his feelings about now being a member of the Kingsmen, and the prospect of facing his former home-country Guyana Amazon Warriors in their very next encounter. Needless to say, my concluding questions about his personal plans and hopes for the further development of his career in the immediate future, were also asked.
While most of Kemo’s provided answers were the usual carefully couched stereotypical responses, he was however, refreshingly candid when speaking about his personal fitness and future career goals. He revealed that as a means of preventing further injuries he now does a fair bit of strength training. He is also eating much more healthily than before.
Even more importantly, his immediate career goals are to become a top-ten ICC-ranked all-rounder in all three formats. And to consistently be among the West Indies selectors’ first choices in all three formats as well. His most interesting, music to my ears as well as I’m sure countless others, revelation though was his stated intention of consistently achieving bowling speeds in the 140-145 km range in the foreseeable future!
The Kingsmen’s next CPL ’26 encounter will be their August 13 Sabina Park fixture against the Guyana Amazon Warriors. A match which, under normal circumstances, would have created for me personally somewhat of a conflicting sense of divided loyalties. Which should I choose to support, the Kingsmen National franchise representatives of my unparalleled outstanding JTB hosts? Or the Amazon Warriors franchise of my birthland, Guyana!
In reality, no such conflict now exists to any degree whatsoever. Again, the hospitality provided by my JTB hosts, as personalized by the highly commendable efficiency and cooperativeness of our Tour Coordinator Candace Thomas, has been at an unprecedented level.
In my now thirty-plus years of Caribbean Tourist Boards sponsored cricket-related tours, I am struggling to recall having ever received such good treatment and to have to date participated in such a memorable tour!
Compare that to my never ever having been invited by Guyana’s Tourism Board to witness or cover an Amazon Warriors home match. Indeed, in the now almost twenty years since its 2007 ICC World Cup opening, I am still yet to witness firsthand any form of cricket at Guyana’s National Stadium!
My visits to Sabina Park have by comparison long since become too numerous to even count. And as I was emotionally reminded during the August 11, CPL ’26 Sabina Park first match tribute to the recently departed Sir Gary Sobers, it was at this same venue that in 1954, the then sixteen-year-old icon captured his very first Test wicket. Trevor Bailey caught wicket-keeper Clifford McWatt bowled Garfield Sobers.
Enough said. Leh We Go Kingsmen! Leh We Go!