ExxonMobil GSL: GAW move on to Saturday’s final despite Scorchers win

The Perth Scorchers XI saved their best performance for last, ending the Guyana Amazon Warriors’ (GAW) three-game winning streak at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence to end their ExxonMobil Guyana Global Super League (GSL) 2026 campaign on a high.
The hosts won the toss and opted to field first, allowing the Scorchers to allocate 135 runs in 20 overs that eventually turned out to be too big a score to chase.

Loosening the noose
Again, Matthew Forde started on a sordid note in the field, running back from deep mid-off in an attempt to catch a ballooning shot from Sam Fanning in the first over. Adding insult to injury, not only did Forde spill the opportunity, but the ball cruised down to the boundary for the first of the innings.

Boundaries would become few and far between as Fanning’s soft dismissal in the following over, served up by Forde, triggered the Scorchers’ collapse.
Fanning, attempting a drive, could only get the ball off the outside edge, just chipping it back to Forde to depart for nine from seven balls.
Forde continued his redemption by removing Andre Fletcher no too long after, leaving the Scorchers at 25-2. If that situation wasn’t bad enough, a spectacular piece of wicketkeeping by Mohammad Haris became Joel Curtis’ undoing. Gunning for the quick single after getting the ball down to fine leg, Haris was quick on his feet to gather and subsequently hit the stumps directly, to find Curtis just inches short of his ground for three runs.
The “Warrior Nation” erupted into cheers again when Gudakesh Motie, in just his third ball, offered a flighted delivery to Scorchers Captain Ashton Turner, which he missed completely; going on to disturb his leg stump.
At 41-5, the Perth Scorchers were, for the umpteenth time in this tournament, in hot water.
Countering the ferocious attack of the Amazon warriors, Dian Forrester and D’Arcy put on a 35-run (36-ball) defence to bring some normalcy back to their innings.
However, it was short lived, as Captain Imran Tahir opted to heighten the spin attack with Mohammad Nabi. The Afghanistan all-rounder delivered a piece to short, low and on the middle stump for a convincing LBW decision. The following ball, he beat Ashton Agar all ends up, rocking back his stumps for a duck.
The attacking mindset prevailed as Nabi employed two slips to face up to the incoming Akeal Hosein. Cognizant of the trap, Hosein turned the ball into the off side for a valuable two. Nabi triumphed in the very next ball though, mangling Hosein’s stumps for his third strike of the night. Hosein admired Nabi’s handywork, nodding in appreciation as he walked back to the pavilion for a run-a-ball two.
Forrester found a better partner for the resistance in Brody Couch, the two piling on a 54-run partnership (40 balls) to frustrate the Warriors’ bowling. Tahir chopped and changed his bowlers at will, even attempting himself, but nothing could stop what was an uncharacteristically brutal onslaught from Couch. The Australian bowler smashed four fours and three sixes in his 43 off 30 to entertain the Guyanese crowd, or at least those who were not supporting the local franchise.
Pretorius eventually cleaned up the Scorchers’ tail in the 20th over but at 135 all out, GAW gave away too many in what should have been an extremely low score.

Quick out the blocks
For the third game running, Rahmanullah Gurbaz got the Amazon Warriors off to a lightning-fast start. The Afghan wicketkeeper dispatched Akeal Hosein’s opening for 13 runs, then smashed the second over from Ashton Agar for 23. Hosein had a better second over, containing Gurbaz, and by the fourth, Dian Forrester struck gold to remove Gurbaz for 42 from 16 balls, littered by two fours and five sixes; a wicket that completely turned the tide of the contest.
Quentin Sampson never looked like he was in the game, only accumulating three runs before meeting his demise. Johnson Charles found the boundary on two occasions but he too suffered in what was his first knock of the tournament, only producing 11 from 15.
From that juncture, the wickets fell quickly, no partnerships were built and Shimron Hetmyer was a spectator at the other end.

Hit-man
Quizzed about his performances in the Warriors’ last three matches, Shimron Hetmyer shared that he would not be dwelling too much on his non-performance in the GSL.
The left-hander had only managed to string together eight against the Lahore Qalandars, a duck against the Desert Vipers and six against the San Francisco Unicorns.
But, cometh the hour, cometh the man; just when GAW needed him most, the Berbice native managed to turn around his recent shoddy form. Hetmyer dug deep for a gritty 31 from 28, only featuring two fours and one six. At the other end, disaster was unfolding; Hetmyer watched Nabi, Motie, Shepherd, Pretorius, and Matthew Forde all fall cheaply as the Warriors shifted into a difficult position.
By the time the 11th man, Captain Imran Tahir, headed out to the middle, Hetmyer was thinking of solutions with 17 still to get from 26 balls.
Hetmyer navigated the final two balls of Ashton Turner’s over well, ensuring he would be on strike for the next over. But, as though he contracted the poor-batting fever that passed around in the Warriors’ dressing room, the Berbician went for a big shot, chopping Ashton Agar’s ball onto his stumps to see the hosts bowled out for 121 in 16.1 overs.
For the Scorchers, Captain Ashton Turner picked up 3-20 from his four overs, while Ashton Agar and Sufyan Moqim accounted for two scalps each.
The Amazon Warriors will now be looking to regroup as they await the winner of Friday’s playoff between the Desert Vipers and San Francisco Unicorns for Saturday’s final.