It was a power-hitting spectacle from the Guyana Amazon Warriors’ pair of Shimron Hetmyer and Sherfane Rutherford, who set up a breezy 6-wicket thrashing of defending champs Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) in Sunday’s sold-out affair at the National Stadium at Providence, EBD.
Shimron Hetmyer is embraced by Sherfane Rutherford after reaching fifty
Having lost to Jamaica on Saturday, the Warriors, now second place with 12 points, stormed to an emphatic win over TKR; with Hetmyer clobbering 59 off just 30 balls, which included three fours and five massive sixes; while left-hander Rutherford, who was awarded Man-of-the-match, was in beast-mode, smashing 6 sixes in his unbeaten 42 off 13, taking GAW to 155-4 in pursuit of 154.
A collective middle-order effort from TKR batsmen Darren Bravo, who hit 42 off 34, with two big sixes and a four; the veteran Denesh Ramdin, who continued his form with a solid 32; and Kevon Cooper, whose late blitz produced 30 runs off just 14 balls, with three sixes and three fours, saw TKR to 154-7 in 20 overs.
Rayad Emrit celebrate the dismissal of Denesh Ramdin
Warriors had a good outing with the ball, with a returning Rayad Emrit bagging 2-25; Sohail Tanvir, 2-36; and Aussie Chris Green, 1-22. Opener Luke Ronchi was the first to go, knocked over by a Googly from the tournament’s leading wicket-taker Fawad Ahmed (2-20), leaving a more settled-looking Cameron Delport to smash four fours and two important sixes to get the chase going. The left-hander looked dangerous even after Ronchi’s departure, but lost his wicket when caught and bowled by Cooper.
Anderson Phillip run out by Chadwick Walton
Hetmyer played some fearless strokes up front, hitting a number of boundaries despite the early dismissals. Scoring his runs primarily in clusters of six, the left-hander raised his fifty with a four after taking Anderson Phillips to all parts of the Providence outfield.
Rutherford imposed himself immediately, hammering three consecutive sixes off the TKR skipper, including a reverse sweep.
The pair brought up their 50 partnership off just 15 balls, with Rutherford racing into the 40s; then Hetmyer was removed by Ahmed after attempting a cut shot.
With just a few runs left to get, Chadwick Walton smashed his first ball — a free hit — for six off the leg-spinner, while Rutherford calmly took the Warriors over the line with a single.
Dwayne Bravo had his middle stump dislodged by Rayad Emrit
Batting first under lights, TKR suffered huge blows at the top of the order, losing the in-form New Zealand pair of Colin Munro and Brendon McCullum for 6 and 9 respectively; the former was removed by Tanvir, and the latter was run out by Delport.
Playing his first game in place of Chris Lynn, the South African Colin Ingram failed to impress, managing only 4 runs to his name before succumbing to some brilliant bowling from the young Green. The top-order collapse saw Ramdin and Bravo reviving the innings with a 54-run partnership, which helped to stabilise things for TKR.
The chemistry between the two players, both of whom represent the Windies Team, was evident, as they ran neatly between the wickets while finding the occasional boundaries when necessary. When Emrit removed his countryman Ramdin, skipper Dwayne Bravo joined his brother in the middle, and struck a sweet six before Emrit scattered his stumps with incisive bowling.
Luke Ronchi and Sohail Tanvir celebrate the dismissal of Colin Munro
As he was joined by Cooper, who seemed to be in a no-nonsense mood, Darren continued to play proper shots, taking Devendra Bishoo for back-to-back sixes while Cooper smashed seamers Tanvir and Rutherford for boundaries at the back end of the innings. Then the Pakistani veteran snapped up his wicket, leaving Pierre unmoved on 4 when the overs expired.
In the first qualifier, to be played on Tuesday, the Guyana Amazon Warriors will take on Trinbago Knight Riders; while the second qualifier will see St Kitts and Nevis Patriots coming up against the Jamaica Tallawahs on Wednesday. (Clifton Ross)
