`King’ Brandon gets the better of St Lucia Kings

Brandong King of the Guyana Amazon Warriors plays exquisitely through the off-side on his way to a top score of 77 which helped the Warriors defeat the St Lucia Kings and stay in contention for a semi-final spot. (Photo courtesy Randy Brooks-CPLT20/Getty Images)
Brandong King of the Guyana Amazon Warriors plays exquisitely through the off-side on his way to a top score of 77 which helped the Warriors defeat the St Lucia Kings and stay in contention for a semi-final spot. (Photo courtesy Randy Brooks-CPLT20/Getty Images)

Guyana Amazon Warriors 151/6 (King 77, Pooran 25; Wahab 2/16, Royal 2/17) Saint Lucia Kings 134/6 (David 47*, Chase 40; Motie 2/12, Smith 2/12) by 17 runs

 (CPL) Guyana Amazon Warriors moved back into the top four of the 2021 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) table with a 17-run victory over the Saint Lucia Kings last night. 

 The Amazon Warriors won the toss and elected to bat first but they had to overcome an early wobble to post a competitive total led by Brandon King’s enterprising 77.

 In reply, the Kings looked as if they were in cruise control when Roston Chase and Tim David put together a big partnership but excellent death bowling tightened the screws and the Kings succumbed to the pressure. 

Having been supplanted in the top four by Jamaica Tallawahs earlier in the day, Guyana needed a win to reignite their bid for a semi-final spot. However, three early wickets in the PowerPlay put them on the backfoot as Wahab Riaz and Jeavor Royal made the early breakthroughs.

 King came to the Amazon Warriors rescue with his first Hero CPL 50 of the season but other than Nicholas Pooran’s 25 no batsmen was able to stick with King. 

 Once King fell for his sparkling 77, Odean Smith was able to add some maximums to take Guyana to a challenging total of 151.

 Saint Lucia Kings were circumspect in their early reply and found themselves three wickets down with 43 runs on the board.  Gudakesh Motie’s parsimonious spin bowling saw him take 2/12 from his four overs to keep the Amazon Warriors well in the hunt.

 Roston Chase and Tim David put together a boundary laden partnership of 75 from 63 balls but just as it seemed they would take the Kings home, Naveen Ul-Haq and Odean Smith bowled four excellent overs to seal two crucial points for the Amazon Warriors.