The unprecedented record that looms over Amazon Warriors

By Brandon Corlette

Despite proving to be an excellent squad which recently cultivated an incomparable 11-0 winning streak, the Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW) have looming another record on which they definitely don’t want to expound.

It was exactly one week ago, on a Saturday morning, when the country was infected with the cricket fever. Every radio station, television station and corner shop kept the buzz alive as they supported the GAW. The entire nation was hyped, and GAW were aiming to extend their unbeaten run. The Barbados Tridents, however, silenced Shoaib Malik and his team at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba Trinidad on a Saturday evening.
Without doubt, GAW are the best team in the history of CPL in terms of consistency. It is a notable record in 2019, and it came when GAW became the first team to win 11 matches in a row. The previous best was seven wins, which was completed by Jamaica Tallawahs across two seasons. However, it remains an untold story why the GAW have not claimed a Hero CPL title after making the finals on five occasions.

Another evidence which (GAW) proved their consistency was qualifying for all of the playoffs in the history of the Hero CPL. From inception of this tournament, they have made it to five finals, and finished the contest as the runner-up team.

GAW 5-0 in CPL Finals
Reflecting on the inaugural CPL tournament in 2013, the GAW team lost to Jamaica Tallawahs by seven wickets in the final. In that encounter, GAW scored 128-5 and the Chris Gayle-led Tallawahs team cruised to victory, ending on 129-3. That match saw the infamous accusation made by Guyanese fans that an unnamed player “sold out the game”.
He had a brilliant tournament with the ball, but the Jamaican native who was playing for the Guyanese franchise had bowled an unforgettable over that yielded 20 runs and included 11 extras (wides).
In 2014, the GAW reached their second final in as many years, and lost to Barbados Tridents that time around. The match ended prematurely with rain and the title dreams were once more shattered.
GAW continued to be the most consistent teama in the CPL, and in the third season they qualified for the playoff but lost to arch-rivals, Trinbago Knight Riders (formerly Red Steel in 2015). In the 2016 CPL season, GAW lost again in another final against the Jamaica Tallawahs. Playing a consistent brand of cricket throughout the tournament, GAW produced their worst performance in the final when they scored 93 all out.
Tallawahs lifted their second CPL title under Gayle’s captaincy, while GAW were the runner-up team as they relived the 2013 CPL final which they lost to the same opposition. Question marks continued to hit the horizon: Will the GAW find the right combination to win a CPL title?
Motoring along in the 2017 CPL, GAW eased their way into the playoffs, but Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) knocked the Guyanese franchise out in Qualifier 2. GAW posted 159-6 and Colin Munro’s blitz led the TKR team past the jaded GAW outfit.
In the 2018 final, CPL giants GAW and TKR met at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba. GAW lost again in another final; after posting 147-9 in their 20 overs, TKR raced away to victory, ending on 150-2 in 17.3 overs.
In the most recent final, GAW lost to Barbados Tridents by 27 runs. Tridents racked up 171-6 in 20 overs, while GAW could muster only 144-9 in 20 overs. This was the first poor performance by GAW in 2019, after they had won 11 matches in a row. The spinners had an ordinary outing, with the exception of Imran Tahir; and the pacers, with the exception of Ben Laughlin, yielded more than eight runs an over.
Brandon King, who led the batting all season, scored 43 for GAW, but the other batsmen that had a fruitful season choked on the big stage. The unresolved question remains: after all that consistency shown over the years, why have the GAW not clinched the CPL Championship Trophy?