Basseterre (St Kitts), Aug 11 (IANS/CMC): In-form opener Lendl Simmons has narrowly missed out on three figures as Guyana Amazon Warriors completed the highest ever run chase in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), to beat St Lucia Zouks by eight wickets.
Set an imposing 190 for victory at Warner Park, Amazon Warriors reached their target with an over left, with Simmons run out for 97 in the penultimate over of the game, reports CMC.
He counted five fours and eight sixes in an electrifying knock that consumed just 60 balls.
The Trinidadian put on an enterprising 154 for the first wicket with New Zealander Martin Guptill who slammed 66 from 47 balls, as Amazon Warriors hardly put a foot wrong in pulling off their sixth win of the tournament to move to 12 points.
Warriors are now level on points with title holders Jamaica Tallawahs and Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel but lie second on net run rate.
The result was a heart-breaking one for Zouks who were hoping to at least finish their luckless preliminary campaign on a high.
With just two wins under their belt and long eliminated from playoff contention, Zouks were scenting a third win and second of the weekend when openers Andre Fletcher and Johnson Charles hammered half-centuries to get their side up to 189 for seven off 20 overs.
Fletcher smashed 78 from 49 balls including five fours and five sixes and Charles, 62 from 46 deliveries, in adding an upbeat 139 for the first wicket, after they were sent in.
Seamer Navin Stewart finished with three for 22 while left-arm pacer Krishmar Santokie picked up two for 39.
Both batsmen eventually succumbed to leg-side catches in Stewart's first over, the 16th of the innings, triggering a slump that saw six wickets fall for 46 runs.
Captain Darren Sammy then struck a cameo 22 from 13 balls with three powerful sixes - two coming in an eventful final over bowled by Santokie that also accounted for two wickets and cost 14 runs.
Brief scores:
St Lucia Zouks: 189 for seven off 20 overs (Andre Fletcher 78, Johnson Charles 62, Darren Sammy 22; Navin Stewart 3-22, Krishmar Santokie 2-39)
Guyana Amazon Warriors: 194 for two off 19 overs (Lendl Simmons 97, Martin Guptill 66).