Maaz Sadaqat became the youngest centurion in CPL history at the age of 21, smashing 112 as Jamaica Kingsmen blew Barbados Tridents away in the Eliminator at the Kensington Oval.
Sadaqat’s one-man effort underlined the Kingsmen’s pursuit of 145 as they completed a nine-wicket win that secured their berth in Qualifier 2 of CPL 2026.
Sadaqat took a blow to the glove after opening his account with a six, but he did not take a backward step.
The Kingsmen piled up 79 in the Powerplay, 65 of which came from Sadaqat’s bat.
The Kingsmen raced past 100 in the tenth over and Sadaqat soon raised a 44-ball ton.
Maaz Sadaqat became the youngest centurion in CPL history at the age of 21, smashing 112 as Jamaica Kingsmen blew Barbados Tridents away in the Eliminator at the Kensington Oval. Sadaqat’s one-man effort underlined the Kingsmen’s pursuit of 145 as they completed a nine-wicket win that secured their berth in Qualifier 2 of CPL 2026.
Sadaqat took a blow to the glove after opening his account with a six, but he did not take a backward step. The riposte was a boundary and once Rivaldo Clarke dropped him on 16, the Tridents endured a fierce onslaught as the left-hander unleashed his full range of strokes - from a reverse-sweep to a one-handed six - before slamming a hat-trick of maximums off AM Ghazanfar en route to a fifty. Gudakesh Motie fired one down the leg-side but Quinton de Kock, who briefly took the gloves from Clarke, missed a stumping chance. The Kingsmen piled up 79 in the Powerplay, 65 of which came from Sadaqat’s bat.
Kirk McKenzie (22* off 34) was kept quiet at the other end but Sadaqat’s pyrotechnics meant that it did little to let the Tridents back into the game. The Kingsmen raced past 100 in the tenth over and Sadaqat soon raised a 44-ball ton. Daniel Sams earned some consolation with the wicket of Sadaqat in the 14th over, just as the Kingsmen were within touching distance of the finish line - which they crossed one ball into the next over.
Earlier in the evening, the Tridents were in dire straits having been reduced to 30/5 in the seventh over. Hassan Khan struck in the opening over, removing Brandon King for a five-ball duck, following which Andre Russell hit the deck to undo both Kevlon Anderson and Zachary Carter. Hunain Shah joined the party in the final Powerplay over, removing the in-form Sadrack Descarte for a duck before Saim Ayub castled Sherfane Rutherford.
What followed though was a remarkable recovery act staged by de Kock and captain Chris Green, who shared a 114-run partnership to take the Tridents to 144. The Tridents breached the 50-run mark in the 11th over before de Kock, who had begun positively in the Powerplay, was dropped by Vitel Lawes on 33. He soon raised a 34-ball fifty, before Green upped the ante too as 71 runs came off the last seven overs. Russell proved expensive in the 18th over, which he couldn’t complete as he walked off clutching his back. Green soon brought up his maiden CPL fifty but Hunain aimed for the blockhole and conceded just seven runs off the last over, with the innings culminating in de Kock’s run out.
