Guyana extended their undefeated streak to nine matches after defeating the Jamaica Tallawahs by 77 runs last night at Providence during their penultimate league stage match of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
In front of a packed stadium of 12,000 Amazon Warriors supporters, the hosts won the toss and elected to bat, reaching 156-6 in their allotted overs.
The boisterous crowd went into complete silence after the first two overs as their Warriors were in an unfamiliar spot with four wickets down and eight runs on the board.
Nevertheless, an 82-run fifth wicket partnership ensured the four-time bridesmaids posted 156-6 in their allotted overs.
Tallawah’s opening seamers rocked the top order with Oshane Thomas (2-40) bowling Brandon King (01), following up with a short-pitched delivery, wide of off-stump that induced Shimron Hetmyer to push at it only to faintly edge to wicketkeeper Glen Phillips and end the first over with Warriors struggling at 2-8.
At the start of the second over, Derval Green (2-23) pegged back the stumps of Chandrapaul Hemraj (02) before trapping Nicholas Pooran leg before wicket in a maiden over. Green was animated after appealing for a leg before decision against Sherfane Rutherford in pursuit of his hat-trick but was quickly struck down.
Rutherford went on to carve three consecutive boundaries to ease the pressure and see Warriors finishing the powerplay at 45-4.
The 21-year-old left handed batsman showed a different side of his batting, patiently picking deliveries to pounce on with his skipper on the other end guiding him along the way.
Rutherford stroked five fours and a lone six before driving leg-spinner Zahir Khan into the hands of country-man Trevon Griffith at cover.
Warriors also lost Chris Green in the following over but Malik shifted gears to move on to his second half century of the season and 53rd in the format.
Malik showcased his ability to use the pace of the seamers with his late and delicate touches while contrasting with massive pull shots down the ground in his unbeaten 75.
The skipper’s 45-ball innings was highlighted by five fours and two sixes and he made the Tallawahs pay for dropping him on 20.
The 37-year-old, with 353 matches under his belt, was joined by Keemo Paul to put on an unbroken 63-run stand.
With 43 runs coming in the last four overs, Paul made 18 not out from 20 balls including a single six that was sent flying several tiers into Red Stand over deep mid-wicket.
When Tallawahs returned in pursuit of their third victory, Chris Gayle, their most prolific batsman with over 13,000 runs in the format had his top of off-stump disturbed by the first ball of the innings from off-spinner Chris Green.
Amidst Glen Phillips (21) becoming the fastest player to reach 1,000 runs in the CPL with 28 matches before holding out to long on off left-arm spinner Hemraj (1-16), the spinners laid waste to the Tallawahs’ middle order.
Leg-spinners Imran Tahir (3-12) and Qais Ahmad (2-20) relished their home fortress, completely bamboozling the batmen.
The 40-year-old electrifying Tahir had lots to celebrate as Chadwick Walton (08) held out to long on for his first wicket. He then trapped local boy Trevon Griffith leg before wicket before rocking the stumps of another local boy Steven Jacobs.
Meanwhile, on the other end of the wicket, 19-year-old Ahmad struck in back-to-back deliveries of his final over to enter his next match on a hat trick. Ahmad’s googly produced a leading edge that resulted in a return catch and a crowd pleasing back flip from the teenager. Ahmad followed that up by breaking the defense of Imran Khan.
The Warriors crowd sniffed victory as Paul returned with ball in hand to have Liton Das (21), who was dropped on 18, pull his first ball into the hands of Hemraj at cover. Paul ended that over with the wicket of Green who skied a catch to Pooran.
Fittingly, the contest was ended by the leader of the Warriors, Malik, who removed Khan and moved his record to 12 wins from 14 matches in the CPL.
Warriors moved to 18 points on the table, the most ever recorded in a single CPL season. Warriors will look to cap off the league stage undefeated when they face the Trinbago Knight Riders, whose record of eight wins in a season back in 2017, was broken.
