Led by Roston Chase’s second half-century, St Lucia Zouks defeated the Guyana Amazon Warriors by 10 runs in Match 10 of the Hero Caribbean Premier League at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.
Zouks celebrate the wicket of Brandon King
Zouks batting first, reached 144-7 in 20 overs with Chase leading the charge with a classy 66. In reply, some early inroads by Zouks seamer Scott Kuggeleijn pegged the Warriors back despite Nicholas Pooran’s blistering 68.
Chase revives Zouks innings
Daren Sammy won the toss and opted to bat first after a slight delay due to the late start of the first match. Captain Chris Green unleashed his spinners early testing the Zouks’ top order. Debutant Kimani Melius struck Chandrapaul Hemraj for a sweet six down the ground, but the veteran Imran Tahir showed his class with two wickets in his opening over.
Warriors celebrate a wicket by Tahir
Zouks were reduced to 19-2 in 2.5 overs when Melius departed for eight and Mark Deyal, playing one shot too many, fell for two. Green, bowling a tight line, removed the dangerous Andre Fletcher for 12 at the end of the power play, with Zouks on 41-3.
The impressive Ashmead Nedd, who continues to demonstrate good control, removed Afghanistan international Najibullah Zadran for a duck after he held out on the boundary at 42-4. West Indies Test player Roston Chase and Mohammad Nabi joined forces and began the rebuilding.
Imran Tahir with his new trademark celebration
Chase continued to show his ability to up the tempo and rotate the strike with Nabi as the duo added a partnership of 57. Tahir returned and struck gold, removing Nabi for a 24-ball 27 with the Zouks reduced to 99-5. In the process, the elegant Chase reached his second fifty of the tournament and he formed a useful partnership with Javelle Glen, taking the score to 142-6 in the final over.
Odean Smith, playing in his first match of the tournament, picked up Chase in the same over. The right-handed Chase scored 66 from 51 balls, including five fours and two sixes. Tahir was the star with the ball with 3-22 in his four overs as Zouks ended on 144-7. Smith claimed 2-33, while Nedd had 1-20 and Green had 1-24.
Kuggeleijn, Nabi pepper Warriors
In the Warriors’ chase, they lost Brandon King for one with a ripper from Kuggeleijn at 1-1. Enter Shimron Hetmyer, the tournament’s leading run-scorer, who was peppered with short balls from the New Zealander. Hetmyer was rushed and was caught off a quick short ball for four as Warriors slumped to 5-2 in two overs.
Nicholas Pooran got in the groove for the first time this CPL
Zouks continued to tighten the screws, removing the experienced Ross Taylor for one to Nabi. Warriors were reeling on 7-3 in 4.3 overs, as Hemraj and Pooran countered some good Zouks bowling. In the power play, Warriors were 19-3; Hemraj and Pooran took the score to 50-3 in 9.3 overs.
After the drinks break, Hemraj’s struggles came to an end when he was caught by Chase for a 20-ball 15, ending a 57-run partnership that was dominated by Pooran. At 60-4, Warriors required 85 runs from 58 balls, with Paul being promoted ahead of Sherfane Rutherford.
Pooran continued to power the Warriors along and he reached his 50 in 32 balls, but the ball after, he was dropped by Sammy at mid-off. Paul played the supportive role and took the score to 115-4, bringing up the 50 partnership with an arrow six. Warriors required 30 from 18 balls, but soon after Paul scored 20 from 18, he departed to golden boy Kuggeleijn.
Rutherford came and struck a sweet six into the largest part of the ground, but Kesrick Williams silenced the virtual fans when he sent Pooran back. Pooran chopped the ball onto his stumps for a well-played innings of 68 from 49 balls which included seven fours and one six.
Roston Chase came to the rescue
In the final over of the game, Warriors required 13 runs to win after Williams missed a run-out opportunity at the final ball of the penultimate over. Chemar Holder, playing his first match of the season, had the task of bowling the final over.
He struck gold, uprooting the stumps of Rutherford with a brilliant yorker as Warriors were reduced to 132-7. Holder continued to impress, removing Green caught behind and it was all hopes lost as Warriors ended on 134-8 in 20 overs. Kuggeleijn finished with 3-24 while Holder and Williams claimed 2-32. As the tournament moves to the Queen’s Park Oval on Tuesday, August 25, Warriors will play the Jamaica Tallawahs from 17:30h.
