CPL

Du Plessis century in vain as Hope, Gurbaz lead Amazon Warriors to back-to-back victories

By Sports Desk September 23, 2022
Shai Hope's unbeaten 59 led the GAW to their second win in a row. Shai Hope's unbeaten 59 led the GAW to their second win in a row. Getty/CPLt20

Guyana Amazon Warriors made it two from two in their home leg of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) with a thrilling run chase to defeat the Saint Lucia Kings on Thursday night.

The Kings won the toss and opted to bat first, and their captain Faf Du Plessis showed why with a magnificent century to lead the way.

His 103 came off 59 balls to help his side set the highest team total in the Hero CPL this year. An outstanding 194-5 looked like an unshakeable target but the Amazon Warriors had other ideas.

Rahmunullah Gurbaz and Chandrapaul Hemraj got the Amazon Warriors' reply off to a fantastic start reaching 71 runs at the end of the PowerPlay and that enabled the Warriors to always be in the hunt for victory. Despite a flurry of wickets after the PowerPlay, Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer paced the chase superbly and the Warriors were able to get home with four balls to spare. 

Earlier the Kings had shown what a good wicket it was, teeing off from ball one to reach 100 runs in 10 overs. Du Plessis was faultless in his stroke play targeting all corners of the ground and brought up his century in the 17th over of the match.

Late runs from Roston Chase helped the Kings set the Warriors 195 to win but if the chase seemed insurmountable the Warriors made light of it in front of a fever-pitch Providence crowd.

 Gurbaz set the tone in the PowerPlay blasting 52 off 26 balls and this laid the platform for Hope and Hetmyer to pace the remainder of the chase appropriately. When Hetmyer fell for 36, Hope simply took up the mantle leading the Warriors home with a superb half-century.

 His 59 runs came off 30 balls as he made it back-to-back fifties in the Hero CPL and consecutive wins for the Amazon Warriors.

Scores: Guyana Amazon Warriors 195-4 (Hope 59*, Gurbaz 52; Deyal 2-32, Joseph 1-20) beat Saint Lucia Kings 194-5 (Du Plessis 103, Dickwella 36; Al Hasan 2-33, Shepherd 1-19) by 6 wickets.

 

Tags
« SKN Patriots keeps playoff hopes alive with seven-run win over Knight Riders Amazon Warriors seal CPL play-off spot after eliminating Trinbago Knight Riders »

Related items

  • Harpy Eagles pacer Ronsford Beaton reported for suspect action, suspended Harpy Eagles pacer Ronsford Beaton reported for suspect action, suspended

    Ronsford Beaton, the Guyana Harpy Eagles fast bowler, was reported for a suspect bowling action during the ongoing West Indies Championship four-day first-class competition.

    Beaton’s action was cited by match officials during the fourth round match between Guyana Harpy Eagles and Jamaica Scorpions at the Guyana National Stadium.

    Cricket West Indies (CWI) confirmed that the Opinion Report by the Independent Assessor at Loughborough University, has found Beaton’s bowling action to be illegal and, as such, he has been suspended from bowling with immediate effect.

  • South Africa fall short of another big run chase as Windies take series South Africa fall short of another big run chase as Windies take series

    West Indies avoided a repeat of their remarkable, record-breaking defeat in the second T20I against South Africa by clinging on to win the series decider by seven runs.

    The Windies had been on the wrong end of a historic run chase in the sides' previous encounter, the highest scoring Twenty20 match since the format was introduced.

    But there would be no repeat in Johannesburg on Tuesday, even if Reeza Hendricks again made life difficult for the tourists after another strong Windies score of 220-8.

    Hendricks was credited by centurion Quinton de Kock with inspiring the Proteas fightback in the second match, having contributed 68 off just 28 balls.

    Missing De Kock's support, it was a one-man effort this time as Hendricks scored 83 off 43, not quite enough with South Africa falling short on 213-6.

    West Indies had posted the second-highest T20I total not to include a single fifty but were also themselves grateful for the work of one batter in particular.

    In a blockbuster conclusion to the first innings, Romario Shepherd had scored 26 from the final over to top-score with 44 from only 22 balls – the knock that ultimately proved the difference.

    Phenomenal finish sees Windies safe

    South Africa handed the ball to Kagiso Rabada with some confidence ahead of the 20th over, with the bowling superstar having restricted the Windies to 2-24 from his previous three overs.

    Yet Shepherd, twice put down by De Kock, smashed Rabada all around the ground to set a daunting target. As a result, the Proteas needed to match Shepherd with 26 off the last but could only manage 18.

    Repeat proves beyond Proteas

    While Hendricks remained in the middle, it appeared very possible South Africa would pull off another stunning recovery. It would have been a record-breaking fifth successful 200-run chase in the format.

    However, West Indies kept their nerve, crucially having Hendricks caught by captain Rovman Powell at long on in the 19th over. The Windies still have not lost a T20I series in South Africa, with two wins and a draw.

  • Powell saves 5-year-old ball-boy from injury by avoiding boundary collision during second South Africa T20I Powell saves 5-year-old ball-boy from injury by avoiding boundary collision during second South Africa T20I

    West Indies captain Rovman Powell got injured while trying to save a 5-year-old ball boy at the edge of the boundary area during the second T20 International against South Africa on Sunday, March 26.

    Powell, while chasing a ball towards the boundary, avoided a potentially catastrophic collision and chose to get hurt himself.

    The incident occurred in the third over of the South Africa chase when Quinton de Kock hit the ball towards the long off boundary.

    Powell gave chase and was inside the dive length to pull the ball back into the field before it touched the boundary. The West Indies captain, however, saw a five-year-old ball boy trying to get to the edge of line and catch the ball and decided to abort the chase in the last minute.

    The West Indies captain then jumped over the boy and the boundary line and crashed into the LED boards, before toppling over.

    Visibly shaken from the incident, Powell had to be treated at the side-line and took a decent amount of time to get back into the field.

    As for the game, South Africa won by six wickets after pulling off a record chase. The West Indies posted 258-5 off their 20 overs and the South Africans needed only 18.5 overs to reach 259-4.

    The third T20I takes place at Wanderers in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

     

back to top