Guyana Amazon Warriors defeated St Kitts and Nevis Patriots by four wickets in the second match of Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2016 at Bassterre in St Kitts on Thursday. The Warriors reached the target with one ball to spare.
Warriors skipper Martin Guptill had won the toss and asked the Patriots to bat first and they got off to a poor start as they lost the wickets of Lendl Simmons and Evin Lewis early.
Their captain Faf du Plessis (30, 28 b, 2X4, 1X6), who made his CPL debut, played some wonderful shots. Du Plessis was getting most of the strike, but legspinner Adam Zampa got the better of him and he was dismissed at a crucial point during the innings.
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots were reeling at one point as they lost four wickets for 54 runs. It was Brad Hodge and Devon Thomas who steadied the ship and built a partnership. Thomas (38, 17b, 1X4, 4X6) took the role of the aggressor and Hodge (38, 32b, 4X4, 1X6) was rotating the strike, which is just what the Patriots needed. Thisara Perera also swung his bat and added valuable 20 runs.
At the end, Du Plessis and co. reached a total of 164 for the loss of nine wickets in their alotted 20 overs.
Sohail Tanvir (4-1-20-4) and Adam Zampa (4-0-34-3) were the pick of the bowlers.
Warriors got off to a flier in the chase, with Dwayne Smith and Guptill catching fire. They were cruising at 62 for no loss at the end of the Powerplay overs. Smith (62, 36b, 3X4, 5X6), especially, took on the Patriots bowlers.
The Patriots did manage to pull things back as they picked up a few wickets in the middle overs, but Jason Mohammad held his nerve to make sure he was there right till the end to take his side over the line.
Mohammad (42, 29b, 6X4) finished things off in style for the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the penultimate ball of the match.
