Glorious GAW grab ExxonMobil Guyana GSL title in thrilling final

Pandemonium broke out in each of the Guyana National Stadium’s stands; screams of delight, whistles of approval, flags waving at top speed, blaring horns and, in some cases, tears of joy flowed as the Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW) lifted their first ExxonMobil Guyana Global Super League (GSL) trophy in the tournament’s second edition.
The Amazon Warriors set up the 32-run victory at Providence after posting a mammoth 196 and going on to rout their opponents and defending champions, the Rangpur Riders, for 164 in 19.5 overs.
The thrilling tale began with the Amazon Warriors winning the toss and opting to bat first.

Thereafter, the hosts posted the highest score in ExxonMobil Guyana GSL history – quite the remarkable feat – in a batting innings that was a testament to their unprecedented growth over the course of this year’s tournament.
Johnson Charles, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Romario Shepherd were amongst the key pieces that got the Amazon Warriors up to an imposing 190+ total.
A crowd reminiscent of those that turn out to watch the age-old rivalry between the Guyana Amazon Warriors and Trinbago Knight Risers yearly in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) filled the Guyana National Stadium to capacity on Friday night. But their brewing anticipation was quieted very early when, after struggling to connect for three balls, Evin Lewis ‘threw his bat out’, finding the safe hands of Saif Hassan, for just 5 runs.

Prior to his wicket, though, Johnson Charles had found the boundary on several occasions, getting more and more comfortable at the crease. Joining Charles was Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who appeared intent on compensating for two low scores in his last two outings.
Charles truly announced himself with a helmet trick of fours in the 6th over off Azmatullah Onarzai’s bowling, and there was no turning back from there. The Amazon Warriors’ duo piled on the runs in a 121-run second-wicket partnership that spanned 11 overs.
The partnership was, of course, decorated with the boisterous cheers of the ‘Warrior Nation’, who were thrilled out of their minds every time the duo exceeded the boundary. The fanfare came to an end, though, when Charles, who had already been avoiding running the twos that an agile Gurbaz so loved, was forced to retire hurt.
His panting retreat to the dressing room was not the ideal situation for the local franchise, evidenced by Shimron Hetmyer’s ensuing, swift departure for a duck and Gurbaz’s wicket, all in consecutive overs.
At 148-4 in the 17th over, however, it was the perfect situation for the host’s hard-hitters to be out in the middle. Romario Shepherd was the first to launch one into the stands in the 18th, and by the 19th over, Sherfane Rutherford had joined the party.
Shepherd slammed 3 sixes and 1 four in his 28 from 9, while Rutherford had 1 six and 1 four in his 19. Together, the two piled on an unbeaten 48 runs in no time to propel the hosts to 196-4 in their 20 overs.
Kaled Ahmed, Tabraiz Shamsi and Iftikhar Ahmed all pick up one wicket each.

Bowlers with nerves of steel
Similarly to their prior three games, the Amazon Warriors had a roaring start to their time with the ball. The Warriors fans first attempt at celebratory cheers came in the very first over, served up by West Indies international Akeal Hosein. Screams for a stumping by Rahmanullah Gurbaz sent the review upstairs, but a smidge of the batsman’s boot saved his wicket, but not for long.
Ibrahim Zadran was given his marching orders in the following over when a masterful take and throw from Captain Imran Tahir to Gurbaz found the batsman short of his crease. There was more to cheer about two overs later when Gudakesh Motie raced from his spot in the boundary at deep extra cover to scoop up an airborne shot off Soumya Sarkar’s bat. The dangerous Kyle Mayers was the next to go, brilliantly castled by Moeen Ali.
The Amazon Warriors would’ve had their fourth in the 7th over, following another stumping combination between Hosein and Gurbaz, but again, the third umpire decided that the batsman had some boot behind the line, giving Iftikhar another life.
That lifeline proved to be valuable to the defending champions as Iftikhar and Saif Hassan went on to pile on 73 runs, visibly frustrating the Guyanese bowlers.
It all came to a boiling point in the 13th over when Tahir’s bowling was sent down to long on, where Hetmyer was on the ropes, ready to collect. Believing that he touched the ropes before he passed off the catch to Sherfane Rutherford, Hetmyer prematurely signalled six, and when the third umpire decided upon awarding the runs without a thorough look at Hetmyer’s take, several Amazon Warriors players flew into a rage, demanding a second look. Though a second check showed that Hetmyer may have come into contact with the advertising ropes, the hosts soon had their revenge.
An instance of ball-watching, hastiness and reckless running between Iftikhar and Hassan saw the latter departing for 26, on the back of a super throw from Evin Lewis near deep mid-wicket.
By the 15th over, eyes in the crowd widened with anticipation and hope as Pretorius brought a double whammy of wickets. The South African pacer accounted for the danger man, Iftikhar, for 46, trapping him lbw, but had to wait a few moments after the reviewed decision was perused by the third umpire.
The pacer was motivated to thump his chest once again when Azmatullah Omarzai holed out Sherfane Rutherford to depart for six.
Unusually, for the first time that night, Imran Tahir took off sprinting towards the ‘green stand’ after accounting for his opposite number, Nurul Hasan, caught and bowled. Down and out and all out of motivation by that point, Khaled Ahmed gave Tahir another reason to take off two balls later after attempting to play a big shot but having his attempt taken at deep mid-wicket by Shamar Springer.
128-8 after 17, and it was all but over now; Warrior Nation waited with bated breath for the moment they could burst out in celebration.
Interestingly enough, the contest went all the way down to the last over being served up by a son of the soil, Motie. The Guyanese spinner wasted no time in taking care of Mahidul Ankon and Kamrul Islam; the more entertaining of the two being Hetmyer, who took a catch lying on his back to dismiss Ankon. While Pretorius picked three scalps, Tahir and Motie both claimed two, finishing the job in style.
Ecstatic with cheers of delight, Warrior Nation were rewarded after a week of devoted support with the ExxonMobil Guyana Global Super League trophy.