PROVIDENCE, Guyana – Led by swashbuckling half centuries from Shimron Hetmyer and Shai Hope, the Guyana Amazon Warriors put themselves in prime position to finish as one of the coveted top two seeds in the Caribbean Premier League with a comfortable 35 run-win over the St Lucia Kings here Saturday.
Hetmyer, who was adjudged Player-of-the-Match, hit the top score of 58 and Hope contributed 56, to propel the home team to an impressive 207 for seven in their 20 overs.
The Warriors’ spinning trio of Imran Tahir, Moeen Ali and Gudakesh Motie then stifled the Kings’ batsmen to restrict them to 172 for seven, with opener Faf du Plessis fighting through cramps to score an unbeaten 92.
With the win, the Warriors jumped to the top of the CPL table with 14 points, the same as the Kings, but with a better net run rate.
The Warriors also have a game in hand, against the third-placed Trinbago Knight Riders, who are currently on 12 points.
The top two teams will playoff for a spot in the CPL final, with the loser playing the winner of the third and fourth placed matchup to decide their opponent.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, the Warriors’ top five batsmen all got starts which served as the launching pad for their eventual total.
Openers Azam Khan and Rahmanullah Gurbaz both scored 26 in an entertaining partnership of 49 in five overs.
But spinner Noor Ahmad accounted for Khan and David Wiese snagged Gurbaz in the space of four runs to leave Warriors 53 for two.
Their dismissals brought Hope and Hetmyer to the crease and the two batsmen flayed the Kings’ bowling around the ground in an 85-run partnership in just under nine overs.
Shadrack Descarte was carted for three consecutive boundaries in the 14th over in which Hetmyer brought up his 50 off 25 balls.
Hetmyer eventually fell when he skied pacer Alzarri Joseph to mid off. He struck nine fours and one six in his 30-ball innings.
Hope started off slowly, but once he found his groove he was a sight to behold.
He was especially brutal against left-arm spinner Khary Pierre, who he blasted for three sixes and a boundary in the 16th over to bring up his ninth CPL 50 off 29 balls.
Together with Romario Shepherd, they belted 41 runs from two overs as the Warriors raced to 179 for three in the 17th over.
Hope fell just after scoring his half century, but Shepherd continued his big hitting in scoring 24 runs to carry the Warriors past the 200 run mark.
Wiese took three wickets, while Ahmad and Joseph each grabbed two wickets for the Kings.
The Kings briefly threatened when du Plessis and Ackeem Auguste were motoring along during a 42-run partnership for the second wicket, following the early loss of Johnson Charles.
But once Ali got rid of Auguste for 12 to leave the Warriors 68 for three, the visitors struggled to recover.
Roston Chase was bowled by Tahir for five, with the spinner also dismissing Aaron Jones and Tim Seifert for one, as the Kings crumbled to 75 for five.
It took du Plessis batting through the innings with Joseph, who scored an unbeaten 25, to help the Kings bat as many overs as possible to bolster their net run rate in the event that all three teams finish on 14 points.