Table-toppers tumble TKR toward terrific ten

Hero Caribbean Premier League…

By Brandon Corlette

In yet another display of dominance, table-toppers the Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW) tumbled defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) to defeat as they took their tenth win of the Hero CPL 2019 tournament at the National Stadium at Providence, East Bank Demerara.

Nicholas Pooran’s blistering 54, which was constructed with five fours and three sixes, sealed a 7-wicket win for GAW as they swept the 10-match League phase.

13 reasons to spin
With the second match being played on the same pitch at Providence whereon the Tallawahs were totalled on the previous night, there were more reasons to go with spin on the spin-friendly pitch, which is slow in nature.
In the first innings of play, it was 13 overs of spin for the GAW after Captain Shoaib Malik continued his winning ways at the coin toss. On this occasion he opted to bowl first.
The GAW spinners came to the forefront again, but it was Chandrapaul Hemraj who picked up the first three wickets. TKR tried another experiment at the top of the innings with Javon Searles, but Hemraj rattled his stumps at 18-1.
Lendl Simmons continued his fine form in the tournament as he watched the craftsman Hemraj at work. The left-arm spinner removed Denesh Ramdin for a golden duck, but Simmons ensured TKR reached 40-2 in the power play.

Hemraj struck gold for the third time, removing the prize scalp of Simmons for a shot-filled 30 from 24 balls.
The right-handed batsman was Hemraj’s third victim via the clean-bowled route, as TKR trickled to 41-3 after 6.2 overs.
Darren Bravo continued to have difficulty scoring freely. His painstaking innings of nine from 17 balls ended when Malik won the tense battle. TKR were reduced to 63-4 in 10.5 overs, but Captain Kieron Pollard and Colin Munro revived the innings with a promising 39-run partnership.
It was a smart catch by Shimron Hetmyer at the edge of the boundary that led to the demise of Munro. The Kiwi batsman had struck a composed 43 from 40 balls, decorated with two fours and two sixes.

With the score on 102-5, Pollard and Jimmy Neesham were tasked with the responsibility of taking the team to a respectable score.
Pollard struck some lusty blows in his dramatic 27-ball 36 which was decorated with four boundaries and two maximums.
Pollard and Nicholas Pooran had a mini-confrontation earlier in the innings, and Providence enjoyed the battle of the Trinidadians.
Neesham ended unbeaten on 12 as TKR posted 143-5 after taking 18 runs off Odean Smith’s over. Hemraj ended on 3-15 while Malik and Laughlin had one wicket each in yet another dominant bowling effort.

King off to flyer, rain interrupts
GAW’s leading run-scorer this season, Brandon King, continued his dream season, racing away to a 23-ball 33. The right-handed King smashed seven fours in a classy innings, but it was cut-short by Neesham who trapped the Jamaican leg-before.

Prior to King’s dismissal, Hemraj fell for 12 when he held out to the deep fielder off the competitive Ali Khan.
Hetmyer struck two fours, but on the ball prior to the rain interval, he gifted his wicket to the impressive Khary Pierre, presenting a simple catch to Simmons at short cover.
At 22:37h, the heavens opened with GAW on 59-3. At that point the scores were tied on Duckworth Lewis System (DLS) but the rain ended at 22:45h. Roughly 30 minutes later, play resumed without any overs lost.

Pooran propels Warriors
Nicholas Pooran partnered Malik, and the dynamic duo played with maturity, battling against some disciplined TKR bowling. GAW reached 100-3 in 15.4 overs, after a slow start; but Pooran upped the scoring rate, taking Neesham to the cleaners in a 19-run over.
That was the game-changing over, as Pooran shifted gears with some entertaining shots at Providence.
The batting sensation reached his half century in 34 balls with an authoritative boundary into the sight screen, and finished the match with a crisp boundary over cover point. He ended on 54 from 35 balls, while Malik was at his supportive best with an unbeaten 28 from 29 balls.
The playoff matches will commence on Sunday October 6 with GAW meeting Barbados Tridents from 15:30h while St Kitts and Nevis Patriots will tussle with TKR from 11:00h.