By Jemima Holmes in Barbados
On the 20th over of the chase, with six runs remaining, Romario Shepherd takes the ball for the Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW). Andre Russell is on strike, and the first ball is a dot. A wide follows, and then Russell edges Shepherd back to Shai Hope, ending his innings on two.
Hope was building around the Kensington Oval; hundreds of GAW fans rose to their feet, and then the unfathomable happened.
Hassan Khan goes aerial in his first ball, out to deep midwicket, and Mavendra Dindyal sprints off the boundary – but he spills it, and with that, the game is lost.
That was how the script unfolded on Friday night as the GAW, after a strong start to the season, bowed out of the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) in Qualifier Two.
Hetmyer to the rescue
With Glenn Phillips dropped to allow Dwaine Pretorius re-entry into the XI, Mohammad Haris was promoted up the order.
With the boundary fielders at long on and deep backward square for the first over, Haris went over the inner circle twice for twos, but didn’t have enough power to find the boundary. He did so, though, in the second over, edging Andre Russell behind third man for a four. Then, the careless mistake came.
Hustling through for a quick single, Haris was inches short of his ground at the non-strikers’ end to put GAW one down for nine runs. Dindyal compensated, though, hitting Andre Russell for two overs to end the over.
The Guyanese youngster got a peculiar lifeline in Russell’s next over, hurrying down the pitch for a quick single, but Keemo Paul’s return from midwicket was lightning fast. Dindyal, sliding in his bat, only made it home on a technicality, as the zinger bales failed to light up when the ball brushed the leg stump. Dindyal would add just one more run to his total, though, sweeping over square leg and finding a fielder in the deep, departing for nine from 12 balls.
For the second game running, Andre Russell was helped off the field, and while Captain Rovman Powell completed the final ball of his over, one could just feel the spirits of the Kingsmen dampen a bit.
The devoted “Warrior Nation”, who showed up a second, consecutive night to cheer on their team, were zoned in, waiting with bated breaths to see how Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer would navigate the next few overs with their team at 27-2 after five overs.
The effort was responsible. Hope and Hetmyer played the ball along the ground often for ones and twos, and when the expected bad balls came, they were put away over the ropes.
At 75-2 after 10 overs when they had been bowled out cheaply for 77 the night prior, there was a sigh of relief going around the stadium.
Whatever Head Coach Lance Klusener told the pair at the drinks break seemed to have switched a gear with the duo going great guns after.
Hope started against Saim Ayub with a four, and when he rotated the strike, Hetmyer dispatched the former Amazon Warriors player over long-on and midwicket for two sixes.
That 20-run over was followed up with 15 off the next. Hetmyer, having already dispatched Vitel Lawes for four, went for the big shot in the next delivery, blasting it out to long-on.
Hetmyer dropped to his knees, eyes locked on the ball, realising the fielder was perfectly positioned for a catch, but as fate would have it, there was enough power on the shot to clear the fielder and the ropes.
With that six, Hetmyer brought up his 16th CPL century; the second of the 2026 season.
By the 12th over, Hope had hit one too many, finding Kirk McKenzie’s hands in the deep midwicket region after just sending a six over his head the ball prior.
With 40 off 33 balls, featuring two fours and two sixes, the 96-run (50-ball) partnership for the third wicket had done the job for the Warriors.
Hetmyer never slowed down, and the battle between him and Keemo Paul was especially palpable. Hetmyer smashed Paul over long-on for a boundary, and Keemo almost had his revenge two balls later when Hetmyer skied the delivery. However, Keemo, calling for the catch in the cover-point region, couldn’t hold on to it, giving the Berbician a second life on 68.
The following partnership between Hetmyer and Sampson flourished, producing 65 runs in 33 balls. Sampson hit two sixes and a four in his 29 from 17 deliveries, but got out trying to dispatch Russell.
Shepherd found it hard to get the ball away but kept the scorecard ticking.
With Hetmyer on 92 in the 20th over and Shepherd on strike, tensions rose as it appeared that Hetmyer wouldn’t be able to reach the milestone.
But a single from Shepherd in the fourth ball of the over brought Kensington Oval to their feet in anticipation.
A chant of “Hetty, Hetty” went around the stadium as Hetmyer blasted Rissell over midwicket for a maximum. 98.
Russell served up a short ball next, but Hetmyer sliced it down to the third-man boundary to move to an unbeaten 102 from 45, his second century of the season.
As such, the Amazon Warriors posted a competitive 206-4 in their 20 overs.
Kingsmen calm under pressure
The Kingsmen were off to a lightning start, thanks in part to their Qualifier One hero, Maaz Sadaqat, who smashed five fours and three sixes. Sadaqat’s innings was cut short, though, miscuing Dwaine Pretorius to the mid-fielder.
The Kingsmen continued strongly, though, with a 48-run partnership for the second wicket between Keacy Carty and Kirk McKenzie, while Cart teamed up with Ayub for 68 runs for the third wicket.
Hope rose for the Warriors and their fans as McKenzie sent one out to long on where Haris eagerly took the catch off the miscued shot. Though he departed for 34 off 20, one felt like the damage was already done.
Carty kept the momentum going, slamming five fours and three sixes for a sparkling 56 off 40 balls. His departure was unconventional, with his captain Powell driving the ball straight, which Khary Pierre got a boot to. The ball went on to the stumps and found Carty out of his crease.
Powell picked up where Carty left off, ensuring a boundary or maximum in every over to push the Kingsmen closer to their target.
In the end, it came down to a 20th over bowled by the Shepherd. The Jamaica Kingsmen, calm under pressure, stormed into their first final in their first year as a franchise.
The Kingsmen will meet the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons in this year’s final, set to bowl off at 19:00h at the same venue.
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