The defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders picked up two crucial points against table-toppers Guyana Amazon Warriors at the Providence Stadium on Sunday. The hosts, led by Martin Guptill, have been in top form in CPL 2016. They had won four matches in a row prior to their game against Trinbago Knight Riders and were termed as the favourites to win on Sunday as well.
But the Dwayne Bravo-led Trinbago Knight Riders got the better of Guyana Amazon Warriors by seven runs.
Warriors won the toss and asked the Knight Riders to bat first. Knight Riders rested Brendon McCullum and replaced him with Anton Devcich at the top of the order. But Devcich failed with the bat.
Hashim Amla has been one of the best batsmen for the Knight Riders and he came up with a matchwinning effort against the Warriors. Amla (64, 54b, 6x4) was the only batsman to go past the 50-run mark against the Warriors on Sunday. The classy South African batsman has already notched up 251 runs in five matches in CPL 2016, at an average of 50.2 and an impressive strike rate of 131.4.
The rest of the Knight Riders batsmen could not score too runs as the team finished on 151 for the loss of four wickets at the end of their 20 overs.
The wicket was getting slower as the game progressed. The slower bowlers were surely to benefit from the pitch. Devcich picked up the wicket of Dwayne Smith in the very first over. Devcich might have failed with the bat, but he made up for that with the ball as he came up with an impressive spell (4-0-17-2).
Skipper Guptill continued to play his shots and tried his best to get his team to the target. Guptill reached his half-century in 39 balls, but he was dimissed a ball later.
No other batsmen could withstand the pressure exerted by Trinbago Knight Riders bowlers and at the end they fell short by seven runs.
Bravo, Sunil Narine and Kevon Cooper also picked up two wickets each.
