Guyana Amazon Warriors completed the perfect set of home victories in the CPL with a comprehensive defeat of the table-topping Barbados Royals. Both teams will now again meet in Qualifier 1 of CPL 2022 on Tuesday at 10:30 AM.
Earlier, The Amazon Warriors won the toss and opted to field first and that proved to be a good decision. Warriors came up with an excellent bowling effort that helped them restrict Royals to just 125.
Romario Shepherd struck in the very first over as Kyle Mayers miscued one.
That was followed by a double-wicket over from Keemo Paul that saw Rakheem Cornwall and Harry Tector depart early to leave their side reeling at 8 for 3.
Jason Holder broke the shackles with a six in the final over of the powerplay but there was a lot of work left to be done.
Azam Khan upped his strike rate by smashing two sixes in a single over but his joy was short-lived as he was run out in the next over.
Najibullah Zadran getting castled first ball by Odean Smith was a telling blow as that left Holder with a lot to do.
While six of the top eight batters registered single number scores, Jason Holder saved Royals from more blushes as he scored 42 off 39 balls. but Romario Shepherd, Keemo Paul and Odean Smith all weighed in with wickets to leave the Royals 97/9.
The final three batters chipped in with a four and a six each to guide Royals past the 120-run mark.
In the reply, Although the Amazon Warriors lost Chandrapaul Hemraj and Shai Hope in the PowerPlay. However, a flurry of boundaries from Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Shakib quickly turned the momentum around.
Shakib’s knock of 53 came off 30 balls and laid the foundation for the Amazon Warriors to win with five over to spare.
Brief scores: Barbados Royals 125 in 17.3 overs (Jason Holder 42; Romario Shepherd 3/14, Keemo Paul 2/9) lost to Guyana Amazon Warriors 126/5 in 14.3 overs (Shakib Al Hasan 53; Obed McCoy 2/22) by 5 wickets