The first evening game for the Saint Lucia Kings ended on a bitter note as Faf Du Plessis’ side ended on the losing side against the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the 2021 HERO Caribbean Premier League. Despite some spirited performances from Tim David, Roston Chase and Wahab Riaz, the Warriors picked up a 17 run victory on Wednesday evening at the Warner Park Stadium.
Bowling first on the night, Jeavor Royal once again provided an early breakthrough as the dangerous Hemraj Chandrapaul was sent packing before he could open his account. That was perfectly followed up by Wahab Riaz from the other end, as he knocked over Shimron Hetmyer with just his fifth delivery of the game.
The Pakistani pacer picked up another wicket in his second over, this time accounting for his compatriot Shoaib Malik’s wicket, leaving the Warriors at 17/3 after four overs. Brandon King though sparked a fightback for the batting side as he scored three boundaries in quick succession against the pace of Kesrick Williams and Obed McCoy to get the team score past 50 by the ninth over.
King though lost another partner shortly after, as Mohammad Hafeez chipped one nonchalantly into the hands of the cover point fielder when Royal came back into the attack, leaving his team at 56/4 at the midway stage of the innings.
Warriors skipper Nicholas Pooran walked in to bat next, and the southpaw immediately put the pressure back on the Kings with a four and a six off Roston Chase’s bowling. Brandon King at the other end also picked up a six over long off against Samit Patel in the next over, as the Guyana Amazon Warriors began to accelerate.
Bowling captain Faf Du Plessis then reintroduced pace into the attack, but the move backfired as Kesrick Williams was hit for a huge six long on by Pooran, whilst Brandon King got to his 6th CPL fifty in that same over. That six however proved to be the last hurrah for Pooran, as he was out caught in the deep trying to take on Chase yet again, leaving the Warriors at 103/5 after 16 overs.
Despite the wicket, Brandon King was undeterred as he picked up a couple more fours off Riaz’s penultimate over. He followed that up with a six off Obed McCoy’s bowling, but the left-arm pacer came back strong as he claimed the wicket of the Warriors opener.
Odean Smith however added a few more lusty blows at the end as the Warriors scored 25 runs of the final two overs to finish their innings at 151/6.
Second Innings
The Warriors opted to go with spin from both ends to begin with, but Kings captain Du Plessis latched onto that opportunity as he dispatched Imran Tahir into the night sky for a maximum in just the second over of the game.
Du Plessis treated the pacers no differently, as he welcomed Romario Shepherd into the attack with a stylish four on the off side. That was however followed up by a wicket maiden from Gudakesh Motie, as he dismissed the Kings skipper and followed that up with five dot balls. Tahir further compounded the problems for the chasing side as he knocked over Andre Fletcher with a googly in the final powerplay over, with the scoreboard reading 38/2.
Samit Patel counter-attacked the spin barrage of the Warriors, picking up a couple of early boundaries but he too was knocked over by Motie in his final over of the game, as the left-armer ended with figures of 2/12.
The ever reliable Roston Chase though initiated the fightback for his team, as he picked up a cracking six and a fortuitous four off Shepherd’s second over, bumping the team score to 59/3 after nine. Fellow batter Tim David too joined in the act, as he welcomed Shoaib Malik into the attack with a huge six over mid-wicket.
Chase continued to enjoy pace on the ball, as he picked up his second six of the evening- a pull shot off Odean Smith’s bowling to keep the asking rate in check. David and Chase continued to chip away at the target as the team score edged past 100 by the 14th over.
Naveen-ul-Haq though delivered a couple of economical overs for the Warriors, pushing the required rate to ten with four overs to play. The pressure yielded a reward as Chase was out caught at covers trying to hit one through the gap, further augmenting the run rate as the Kings now required 30 off the final two overs.
Things got worse for the chasing side as new man Keemo Paul and Jeavor Royal dismissed off successive balls by Smith, putting the Warriors in the driver's seat. Tim David struck a couple of lusty blows in that final over, but it wasn’t enough to get his team over the line as the Kings lost by 17 runs.
Brief Scorecard:
Guyana Amazon Warriors: 151/6 (Brandon King 77, Wahab Riaz 2/16)
Beat
Saint Lucia Kings: 134/6 (Tim David 47, Gudakesh Motie 2/12)
