CPL 2021: Pooran hoping GAW can learn from defeat

By Brandon Corlette

The Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW) will have to continue that wait for that elusive Caribbean Premier League (CPL) title. In the 2021 CPL, Warriors’ campaign ended in the semi-final against the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots.
After that match, GAW Captain Nicholas Pooran said he was hoping that GAW would learn from the encounter. He also disclosed that, as a bowling group, Warriors were not up to the mark.

“As a bowling group, we weren’t up to the mark. Having said that, I hope that we take the learning from this. We were happy with anything over 160, Hetmyer played really well to get us to a good score. Lots of positives for us – Smith, Motie and Shepherd. Lots of young players putting their hands up. Hope that they get better with these learnings. Congratulations to St Kitts,” Pooran said at the post-match interview.

Impressive
Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith and Gudakesh Motie were standout performers that impressed Warriors’ skipper Pooran and many cricket enthusiasts. Smith bowled with great venom, Shepherd was very consistent with his skilful bowling and power hitting, and season debutant Motie bowled well in pressure situations.
After nine matches, Shepherd finished with 18 wickets at 14.11 and an economy rate of 7.69. Shepherd, a New Amsterdamer, also contributed with the bat, scoring 109 runs and striking at 165, the highest for a Warrior, and he had significant impact on the matches he played.

Jamaican speedster Odean Smith was the fastest bowler of the season. He also finished with 18 wickets at an average of 14.88 and an economy rate of 7.54 in the 11 matches he played. Moreover, he struck 126 runs with the bat.
In his debut season, Albion’s Gudakesh Motie was certainly impressive, bowling in pressure situations against some big guns. He ended with eight wickets in six matches at an average of 15.50 and a stellar economy rate of 6.52, despite bowling in the powerplay.
In addition to this trio, Captain Pooran was the Warriors’ leading run-scorer. He had an aggregate of 263 runs at 32.87 and a strike rate of 163. He scored one half-century, a high-score of 75.
Chandrapaul Hemraj was second in terms of runs for the Warriors, scoring 254 runs with a high-score of 105 not out. He had a par average of 25.40 and a good strike rate of 133.68.
Shimron Hetmyer was the other Warriors batsman with more than 200 runs. The left-hander scored 218 runs at 24.22 and a strike rate of 121.78, certainly not impressive for the talent he possesses.
Brandon King (189 runs), and Mohammad Hafeez (179 runs) showed signs of form but did not capitalise during the 2021 CPL.
Batsman Shoaib Malik had a poor season, scoring 67 runs in 10 innings, at an average of 7.44.
In addition to Smith and Shepherd with 18 wickets, and Motie who had eight wickets, veteran Imran Tahir had 13 scalps.
Overall, it was an inconsistent season for the Warriors, but a lot of promise was shown. Warriors ended the league stages at second spot in the table, won six matches (including super over win against TKR) and lost five matches (including semi-final).