CPL triumph “means a lot”- Joseph

The Antigua and Barbuda Falcons’ championship run in the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2026 has been nothing short of special, considering the franchise is only three years old.

They whipped the Jamaica Kingsmen on Sunday last by eight wickets with 20 balls remaining to lift the coveted trophy.
Featuring only a handful of Antiguan-born players in the franchise, inclusive of all-rounder Rahkeem Cornwall and coach Sir Curtly Ambrose, pacer Alzarri Joseph fits the bill, and as he told this publication, the win will mean a lot to his nation.
Joseph told this publication exclusively, “It means a lot. I mean, we haven’t had CPL in Antigua for a little bit, and three years ago, the franchise came back to Antigua, and for us to win in our third year is something very special.”
“It’s special for me because, obviously, it’s my first year being back home with this franchise. So, it means a lot for me to win the trophy this year with the Antigua Falcons,” he added.
Joseph went on to discuss the final clash, opining that the opponents were a few runs short.
“From the start they had; you could tell that it was a really good wicket,” he opined. “I think they were probably 20-30 runs short, but we bowled really well after the break. So, to restrict them to 170 was really, really good.”
The fast bowler, of course, made his own contribution to the win, returning 2-27 from four overs, which included a crucial two-run 19th over.
“I knew that over was going to be a very important over. So, I was thinking, if I can get out of the over maybe, six to seven runs and then leave it down to the last over, it would be good, but it only cost us two runs and a wicket, so it was good,” the fast bowler shared.
According to Joseph, there was never a doubt in the chase for the Falcons after restricting the Kingsmen.
“Yeah, I mean, we know the capability of our batters, so we were really comfortable. We knew that was a good pitch and the score was below par, so it wasn’t really much for us to get over the line tonight,” he expressed.
Joseph ended the tournament as one of four joint highest wicket takers with 16 scalps. That list also included Guyana Amazon Warriors’ Imran Tahir, Jamaica Kingsmen’s Hunain Shah and St Lucia Kings’ Matthew Forde.