Guyana Amazon Warriors 160 for 2 (Gurbaz 54, Hope 39*, Dindyal 33, Hetmyer 30*, Sadaqat 1-6) beat Jamaica Kingsmen 159 for 7 (Hassan 62*, Sadaqat 35, Pretorius 2-20, Pierre 2-21) by eight wickets
In this, the first game of the season at their home in Providence, it was one-way traffic all the way except for a brief while when Hassan Khan took the bowlers on to smash 62 not out in 29 balls, but Amazon Warriors had done enough before that blitz and did enough after to make sure the result would go their way – comprehensively, a win by eight wickets with 16 balls left in the chase.
Pretorius was at it early, as he has usually been for Amazon Warriors. He struck last ball of the first over of the match after his captain Imran Tahir had opted to field, trapping Kirk McKenzie in front. Then fifth over of the innings, Keacy Carty was gone too, similarly, hit on the pads in front with the ball nipping in after pitching on a length.
The scoreboard saying 46 for 2 after the powerplay meant Kingsmen were already on the back foot, and it refused to get better for them. Usman Khan and Maaz Sadaqat, the opener who made 35 off 34 balls, fell to Khary Pierre; Keemo Paul, pushed up to No. 5, was run out; Rovman Powell was bowled off the inside edge by Mohammad Nabi. Kingsmen were 87 for 6 in the 14th over and going nowhere.
Hassan had been on 3 from six balls when the sixth wicket fell, and after a bit more nudging and pushing, started to pick up speed. But it was only in the 19th over, which began with Kingsmen at 122 for 6 and Hassan on 26 off 18, that he really took off, targeting Tahir and taking three sixes off consecutive balls from the veteran legspinner. The last over also went Hassan’s way as he hit Shamar Joseph for two fours and a six, and Kingsmen had something to bowl at.
“I think at the halfway stage I was pretty pleased, especially after losing those wickets in the middle overs,” Powell, the Kingsmen captain, said at the break. A fair assessment – they could have stopped well short of where they did. But did they have enough?
Rahmanullah Gurbaz and 21-year-old Guyana youngster Mavendra Dindyal zoomed off the blocks to make sure the momentum Hassan had wrested was firmly back with the Amazon Warriors. The powerplay went for 65, with Dindyal falling for a 17-ball 33 with four sixes.
Gurbaz became the youngest to 7000 runs in T20s when he got to 28, and he carried on to make 54 in 35 balls. When he fell, the Amazon Warriors had 114 on the board in just the 13th over.
The rest of the way was as smooth, with Shai Hope taking his time, which he had a lot of, and Shimron Hetmyer pulling out the big hits. Hope ended unbeaten on 39 from 35 balls and Hetmyer had 30 in 17 when he finished the game off the second ball of the 18th over.
Only Antigua and Barbuda Falcons are ahead of Amazon Warriors now, just one point clear but from four extra matches. Kingsmen are just one spot behind Amazon Warriors at No. 3.
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