Keemo Paul was not bowled in the first match against Talawas and it was the talk of the town that it had something to do with the defeat of the Guyana Amazon Warriors. Warriors head coach Rayon Griffith commented on this.
“He was picked to bowl and bat. Maybe, the situation of the game, I believe as it got to the back end, the skipper did not went (go) for him. Maybe he had different ideas. He is fit and ready to bowl.”
Also, the Warriors lost their first match, and the second match was washed out by rain. Accordingly, they lost their expected third match against the Patriots. Before the match, Warrior’s head coach said:
“The first game, I must say we play some good cricket. It was a good fight between us and the Tallawahs. It was a close match. With that gone, we have to focus on what is ahead of us, which is the Patriots. I believe we had some good sessions after, which some of the guys are looking in knick.”
Also,
“Early days yet, and we are still trying to get that right balance. Everyone wants their points, to ensure you are in a good position for the final four. It is still early days but we want to see how many points we can get outside here (away from home).”
Griffith explained that although the St. Lucia pitch is suitable for batting but they have well experienced bowlers.
“It does not really matter We have some experience spinners which is good. They will know how to vary their pace, even push and pull in terms of line and length and some of the spinners will do well on this ground (Daren Sammy Cricket Ground). We still have some fast bowlers who can get the job done on this surface.”
However, Keemo Paul and Romario Sheppard have been expensive in recent bowling for the West Indies, but Griffiths noted that they will only get better as they play more.
One of the main batsmen for the Warriors, opener Chanderpaul Hemraj, said that he played some excellent T20 innings before the CPL, so he will be among the runs in the next few matches.
“Not looking too far ahead, just need to get a good start for myself and the team, and I am looking forward for us to win this tournament. I came into this tournament playing some decent amount of T20 games with decent form, so I am pretty confident with getting some scores in the next few games.”
He also mentioned that he would enter with the good faith that exists with the patriots.
“We are in a good mindset. That game (against Jamaica Tallawahs) came down to the wire but we had some good practice sessions, so we are heading into the Patriots game with confidence.”
However, the match between Warriors and Patriots was very hot, and Patriots managed to win by 4 wickets in the last over. The Amazon players, who batted first, scored 162 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in the scheduled 20 overs.
Chanderpaul scored 43 runs in 38 balls, and skipper Shimron scored a quick 46 runs in 21 balls. In bowling, Jansen and Akila managed to take two wickets each for the Patriots.
Lewis failed to give STKNP a flying start to the reply innings and was bowled out for 10 in a total of 14, but opener Fletcher laid the foundation for victory. When he got out, he scored 41 runs in 38 balls.
The middle-order batsmen were less successful, and Darren Bravo scored 21 off 22 balls. However, Pretorius and Jansen managed to turn the match in favor of STKNP. Pretorius scored 27 runs in 12 balls with 3 sixes and Jansen scored 23 runs in 15 balls.
The Warriors skipper used eight bowlers to defend 162 runs, but it was in vain. Shepard and Imran Tahir were both very expensive in this match.