‘I’m so proud of the boys’ - Powell takes heart despite Kingsmen’s heartbreak

In the aftermath of a hard-fought Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) final, Jamaica Kingsmen captain Rovman Powell stood tall, not in victory, but in pride.

Despite his team’s defeat to the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons on Sunday night, Powell reflected on the season with immense satisfaction and confidence in how far his side had come.

“It’s a good feeling, to be honest,” Powell said. “I think it’s a very hard-fought campaign for us. I’m so proud of the boys.”

The final was a tale of two halves for the Kingsmen. After a blistering start that saw them race to 97 for two after 10 overs, powered by a superb innings from Maaz Sadaqat and a crucial partnership with Saim Ayub, their innings lost momentum.

“I think after the halfway stage, we felt as if we were 10 to 15 runs short, to be honest,” Powell admitted.

“We knew that it was a pretty good batting wicket. Credit has to be given to our batters for the first 10 overs. It’s disappointing that as a batting group on such a good wicket, we didn’t really capitalise on that start.”

Powell pinpointed the critical moments that ultimately tipped the scales in favour of the Falcons.

“As a batting group, when we lost four wickets in the middle overs, four key batters who were supposed to put the impetus on the game in the last 10 overs[ and as a bowling group, we didn’t control the power play as well as we wanted to.”

Yet, for Powell, the defeat does not define the season.

Instead, it is the resilience and growth of the team that he will remember most fondly.

“I honestly feel it’s a proud journey for us. We have accomplished a lot of things. We set out to be in the finals, and when we came to the tournament, we wanted to see if we could progress all the way.”

The Kingsmen’s road to the final was anything but straightforward. They lost their first three matches before finishing the preliminary phase with four wins and six losses to squeeze into the play-offs.

“It was a slow start to the competition as we lost our first few games, but we built a little bit of momentum with our home crowd back home in Jamaica, and from there the guys started to believe that we could actually play cricket,” Powell recounted.

That belief was reinforced during a challenging away fixture.

“We went to Trinidad, which is a difficult place to play cricket, and we played a very good game down there. That confidence kept building within the team. We knew that as soon as we squeezed into the last four of the competition, how dangerous our team could be, and the guys just kept chipping in.”

As he reflected on the campaign, Powell was quick to deflect credit to his players and staff.

“Credit has to be given to them throughout the entire competition. They listened to the leadership that myself and the head coach provided, and I am actually proud of the boys.”

While the CPL trophy will reside in Antigua and Barbuda, the Jamaica Kingsmen leave the tournament with their heads held high, a testament to their captain’s unwavering pride in a season marked by resilience and significant achievement.