-after breaking Amazon Warriors’ winning streak of 4 in 4
By Brandon Corlette
The Guyana Amazon Warriors’ winning streak of four wins in four matches ended on Tuesday morning when the Barbados Royals took a comprehensive 87-run win over them at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence.
Led by a destructive 91 from Rahkeem Cornwall and a half-century from Azam Khan, Royals posted 195-5 in 20 overs, and then bowled out the Amazon Warriors for 108 in 17.4 overs.
In the chase, the Warriors lost the prolific striker Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a single run when he was bowled by the Royals skipper Kyle Mayers. Shai Hope joined Chandrapaul Hemraj, but the duo struggled to get going. And after scoring 16 runs from 11 balls, Hope’s stumps were sent flying by the left-arm seamer Ramon Simmonds with the Warriors’ score was at 26-2.
Shakib Al Hasan (01) was then trapped by Simmonds, and Hemraj was bowled by the mystery man Mujeeb as the Warriors lost four wickets in the powerplay while scoring only 36 runs. That rocky start pegged the Warriors back in the chase, and Keemo Paul and Shimron Hetmyer unsuccessfully attempted a repair job, but the Royals would have none of that. After a 29-run stand, Paul, who played some innovative shots, was out for 13, while Shimron Hetmyer eventually went for 37.
Romario Shepherd (01), Odean Smith (01) and Imran Tahir (07) all failed to reach double figures, while
Junior Sinclair offered some resistance with his unbeaten 13 as Warriors ended on 108 all out in 17.4 overs.
Ramon Simmonds ended with 3-17, while Cornwall and Mujeeb each had two wickets.
The Guyana Amazon Warriors had earlier won the toss and opted to bowl first in glorious sunshine. The Royals were off to a flyer, posting 56 runs for the opening stand in the powerplay. Berbician Junior Sinclair tested Cornwall and Kyle Mayers with his spin, and despite being struck for a six off the first ball of his spell, four balls after the powerplay, he sent Mayers packing when he bowled him for 26 runs from 20 balls, with the Royals’ score at 56-1. Mayers’s innings included three sixes and one four.
Imran Tahir then put on his running shoes and trapped the Irishman Harry Tector for a duck, with the score at 63-2.
Cornwall was then joined by Azam Khan, and the duo rode their luck as they played fearless cricket. The few Barbados Royals’ fans were very vociferous while the Guyanese fans were shocked into silence as Cornwall destroyed the Warriors’ bowling.
The big Cornwall reached his half-century with a maximum off Odean Smith within 39 balls, and Khan and Cornwall then ‘dealt with’ Tahir, slamming him for 21 runs in the 16th over.
Cornwall eventually departed after scoring 91 runs from 54 balls. After slamming 11 sixes and two fours in his dominant innings, he was caught at long-on by Romario Shepherd, and the Royals were at 153-3 in 16.2 overs.
After that 90-run third wicket partnership between these two burly figures Cornwall and Khan had been broken, Khan continued to take advantage of the good batting surface, and motored along to his fifty. Najibullah Zadran, however, had a short stay at the crease before he was caught by Hetmyer for eight off Shepherd, and the Royals’ score was now 162-4 in 17.5 overs.
Khan reached his landmark 50 from 34 balls, but was dismissed with the next ball, caught by Smith off Shepherd in the final over, with the score on 193-5.
Royals ended with 195-5, the joint highest score this season, while Shepherd claimed 2-29 in four overs to end as the pick of the bowlers. Royals’ innings included 19 sixes.
For the Warriors, it was a difficult day with the ball, as Keemo Paul, who bowled only 1.4 overs for 23 runs, left the field with an injury.
Warriors will play the second Qualifier today, Wednesday September 28, from 19:00h at Providence.
WRONG FROM THE START
Warriors got it wrong from the inception, Shakib has said. “From the start, we were not up to the mark. We did not bowl the way we should have bowled, and we did not look good on the field as well. So, I think the bowling and fielding let us down. I did not think it was a 200 wicket. Rahkeem played really well, but we should have bowled between to him. We have another opportunity (in Qualifier 2), we have to come back stronger and do the things that were going well for us, and we need to repeat that.”
Shakib also noted that the Warriors had a plan for bowling to Cornwall, but failed to execute. “We need to come back well and execute at our best,” Shakib has said.
The star all-rounder added: “We played four out of five here. When we arrived here, we were at the bottom of the table, and now we are in a good position, we have another chance of being in the final.”
Despite the defeat, Shakib is confident that the Warriors can bounce back and reach the final.
