Hetmyer, Sampson close out Kings upset in St Lucia

Pressure mounted, the equation got concerning, wickets fell at the wrong time but there was a reason that the Guyana Amazon Warriors opted to chase. It was their position of comfort and no matter what happened, they were assured of having a character that could finish it.
That character on Wednesday night at the Daren Sammy cricket Ground in St. Lucia was Shimron Hetmyer, launching a maximum over the deep midwicket region in the first ball of the 19th over to close out a 7- wicket victory for the Amazon Warriors. Right by his side was Quentin Sampson.
With two wins from as many games, the Guyanese franchise propelled themselves to the top of the points table after Match 11 in this year’s Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

Containing the Kings
The Kings got off to a decent start with a 30- run partnership for the first wicket between Andries Gous and Kamil Pooran. After hitting Dwaine Pretorius and Khary Pierre for a few boundaries, Pooran tried to hit one too many, sending a top-edge off a short ball from Pretorius back to Shai Hope, who took a simple catch to remove the opener for 19.
It was then that the rain threatened to interrupt the biggest party in sport but soon subsided after a few minutes. Gous and Ackeem Auguste seemed to have found some confidence during the break, assaulting the boundary in the ensuing deliveries after the rain break.
Pretorius was the man once again, serving up another short ball, this time to Andries Gous (20 off 21) who got it out to the boundary where Mavendra Dindyal was waiting to gobble it up.
Auguste’s stay was short-lived, departing in the very next over as Shimron Hetmyer did great work coming in from the long- off boundary to take a spotty catch.
The Guyana Amazon Warriors, by that point, looked a bit more settled with the ball, but the Chase vs Joseph battle entertained for the next few overs.
A victim to the short ball from pacers already in this season of the CPL, the Amazon Warriors’ plan for the Kings’ captain was clear with the introduction of Shamar Joseph into the bowling attack.
Chase won the battle, top- edging two of Jospeh’s deliveries to the fine leg boundary; but Joseph won the war, serving up a wide-ish, short delivery to Chase, which he opted to fetch. The shot only got as far as the deep backward point region where Romario Shepherd struggled with the beaming light in his eyes to take the catch. Chase could only produce 14 off 13 balls.
Again, the rain tried to play spoil sport, forcing another interruption in the 16th over, just when Charith Asalanka (35 off 28) and Darren Nedd were building a 41- run partnership.
The third break of the evening proved to be a good one for the visitors who, through Shepherd were able to disrupt that partnership with the wicket of Nedd for 17. Momentum swayed and with a few wickets and tight fielding, the Amazon Warriors found themselves in control, restricting the Kings to 151-7 in their 20 overs.
Pretorius claimed 3-29 from 4 while Joseph picked up 2-25 from his 4.

Touch and go chase
With the frequent rain interruptions in mind, Guyana’s opening pair raced to 51-0 in 6.3 overs, being mindful to keep their wickets safe. Phillips and Dindyal kept motoring along after the pause, eventually striking a 79- run first wicket partnership.
Though the rain break seemed to not bother the Guyanese side, it was the drinks break that brought a bit of discomfort. In the second ball after the break, Dindyal sent a shot out around the deep cover region where Amari Goodridge juggled before grounding the ball.
Joshua Bishop got his revenge in the very next delivery, inviting Phillips to chip the ball to long on where Forde was ready and waiting to show Goodridge how the catching is done.
Dindyal grew in confidence as his innings went on, dispatching both Chase and Bishop over the ropes for maximums. Anxious to get to his maiden half- century, the former West Indies Under-19 player finally brought it up in the 14th over, off an exact 50 balls after a nervy start to his innings.
However, Maheesh Theekshana’s experience prevailed in the very over, having Dindyal stumped off the final ball of the 14th.
The quick succession of wickets brought two new batters in Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer to the crease. Coupled with a slew of dots balls from Chase and Theekshana and infrequent boundaries, the Kings found themselves holding on to a bit of hope.
Just when things got tense for the Amazon Warriors, their equation moving up to 323 needed off 22 balls, Quentin Sampson showed his class with a relieving pair of maximums over the deep square region. Hetmyer borrowed a bit of Sampson’s confidence welcoming Shadley van Schalkwyk to the 19th over with hattrick of fours in the first 3 balls. A wide, another boundary and a single later, the Amazon Warriors needed a single run to claim the win. Sampson missed with a cheeky laugh, leaving Hetmyer to finish the job himself.
The Republic Bank CPL continues tonight in Antigua and Barbuda where home franchise Antigua and Barbuda Falcons will begin their home leg with a clash against the St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots from 19:00hrs.