St. Kitts & Nevis, Sep 9 (IANS): Guyana Amazon Warriors rode on a fighting batting performance from Brandon King to move back into the top four of the 2021 Caribbean Premier League (CPL) table with a 17-run victory over the Saint Lucia Kings.
The Amazon Warriors won the toss and elected to bat first. They overcame an early loss to post a competitive 151 for six led by Brandon King (77).
Guyana needing a win to get back into the loop for the play-offs, lost three early wickets in the Powerplay as Wahab Riaz and Jeavor Royal made early inroads.
King rescued the Amazon Warriors with his first CPL fifty of the season but other than Nicholas Pooran's 25, no batsmen was able to stick with King. Once King fell, Odean Smith blasted some sixes to take Guyana to a challenging 151.
Saint Lucia Kings were circumspect in their reply and were three down with 43 on the board. Gudakesh Motie's tight spin bowling saw him take two for 12 from his four overs.
Roston Chase and Tim David put together an aggressive 75 from 63 balls but just then Naveen Ul-Haq and Odean Smith bowled four excellent overs to seal two crucial points for the Amazon Warriors.
Meanwhile, Jamaica Tallawahs once again beat St Kitts and Nevis Patriots by 22 runs at Warner Park. The Patriots won the toss and opted to bowl, yet the Tallawahs were able to post a sizeable score of 169/8, largely thanks to some power hitting from captain Rovman Powell and Andre Russell.
The Patriots were unable to accelerate and chase the total as Tallawah bowlers Imad Wasim, Veerasammy Permaul and Migael Pretorius helped produce a disciplined bowling performance which earned the franchise their third wi' of this year's CPL.
Kennar Lewis and youngster Kirk McKenzie batting through the first five overs gave Tallawahs a steady start. Then Lewis was caught out on the boundary. Shamarh Brooks top scored with 43 runs from 39 balls to consolidate before Powell and Russell hit fast runs to take the score to a substantial total.
St Kitts & Nevis Patriots in contrast had an indifferent start, losing batsman Evin Lewis in the second over, followed by captain Chris Gayle.
Devon Thomas and Joshua da Silva tried building a foundation but wickets tumbled and only Dominic Drakes later on in the innings was able to strike at the required velocity to chase the target, hitting 22 runs from just 12 balls. Once Drakes was out all hopes of a Patriots win evaporated.
The win gives Jamaica Tallawahs a good chance to get into the play-offs.
Brief scores:
Guyana Amazon Warriors: 151/6 (King 77, Pooran 25; Wahab 2/16, Royal 2/17) beat Saint Lucia Kings: 134/6 (David 47*, Chase 40; Motie 2/12, Smith 2/12) by 17 runs.
Jamaica Tallawahs: 169/8 (Brooks 43, Powell 37, Russell 28; Fawad 2/14, Jaggesar 2/20) beat St Kitts & Nevis Patriots: 147/8 (Thomas 35, da Silva 28; Pretorius 3/26, Permaul 2/31) by 22 runs.