Republic Bank CPL: De Kock too hot for Warriors to handle
Quinton de Kock added another T20 century to his achievements
Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) defending champions, the Guyana Amazon Warriors slumped to their first defeat of the 2014 season on Saturday night, coming up short against the Barbados Royals at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown.
It was not the best of days for the Amazon Warriors’ bowling and as they would later come to find out, the batters suffered the same fate.
As usual, Quinton de Kock was a run machine for the Barbados Royals, churning out the shots even when his teammates struggled to do so.
The South African compensated for his faltering the night prior against the Trinbago Knight Riders, pacing his innings to perfection to frustrate the Amazon Warriors’ bowling attack.
The Amazon Warriors bowling line-up found themselves in a constant cycle of needing to find a breakthrough, as de Kock did well to craft little partnerships with his fellow batters.
Keshav Maharaj picked up three crucial wickets for the Royals
Dwaine Pretorius was the first to break the ice, claiming the wicket of Kadeem Alleyne in the third over, when the youngster was striking at 244 per cent.
Alick Athanaze hit the ball around for a short while in his 16, while Captain Rovman Powell went back to the dugout as fast as he arrived at the pitch.
Finally, de Kock found his equally-yoked and intent partner in Jason Holder; together they put on a 59-run partnership that took the Royals from a respectable total to something challenging.
Keemo Paul put in the effort at the end, but could not get his team over the line
The South African could then score fluently, as compared to his guarded approach in the earlier overs, bringing up his first CPL century in the 17th over, off an even 60 balls. With that pressure relived, de Kock went out in a blaze of glory, hitting a pair of sixes to get to 115 from 68 deliveries before falling to Raymon Reifer.
At the other end, Holder took full advantage of Keemo Paul’s last over, slamming 24 runs in 5 balls, to end unbeaten on 28 from 10.
With 144 of their runs accounted for in boundaries, the Royals got up to 205-6 in their 20 overs.
In the chase, a different role for Azam Khan, unfortunately, was not enough to yield better results for the Pakistani batter, who fell for his fourth single-digit score this season, in as many games.
Shai Hope and Tim Robinson looked overly patient and with the boundaries few and far in between, the Amazon Warriors found themselves trailing the required run rate, as early as the power play.
Shimron Hetmyer looked good for his 28, but failed to press on
The final over of the power play, however, was an interesting one, beginning with Kesha Maharaj dropping the chance to Hope off his own bowling. Two balls later, he round-picked a wicket as Robinson chipped down the track to play a big shot, but was stumped instead.
Unfazed by his teammate’s departure, Shimron Hetmyer strolled to the crease and dispatched Maharaj for two sixes, signifying what was to come.
But, before Hope and Hetmyer could get on with the excitement, the heavens opened to dampen conditions at Kensington Oval. Following the rain, Hetmyer’s blitz spanned 10 balls but accounted for a quick 28 runs, including three sixes.
In spite of finding the boundary on occasions, both Hope and Moeen Ali failed to really get going as the required total grew more threatening with each passing dot ball.
Hope’s departure for 40 and later Ali’s for 33 thanks to the mastery of Maharaj; pulled the defending champions into a slump with a tall ask mounting against the tailenders.
Eventually, 205 became too much for the Amazon Warriors, who fell – runs short of their target.
