Bowlers help Warriors consolidate top spot

Guyana Amazon Warriors 139 for 2 (Mohammed 43*, Lynn 38*) beat St Lucia Zouks 138 for 6 (Hussey 64, Emrit 2-25, Zampa 2-30) by eight wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

An unbroken 82-run stand for the third wicket between Jason Mohammed and Chris Lynn helped Guyana Amazon Warriors beat St Lucia Zouks by eight wickets at Providence in Guyana. A fifth win in six matches helped Warriors consolidate their top spot in the CPL 2016 standings.

Zouks recovered from twin blows in the first over - Sohail Tanvir, the Pakistan pacer, had dismissed openers Johnson Charles and Shane Watson - to post 138 for 6 after being sent in to bat. The innings was steered by Michael Hussey, who top scored with a 50-ball 64. Three other batsmen got into double digits, with David Miller's 23 being the second highest in the innings.

Zouks were devoid of momentum, and were struggling at 44 for 3 at the halfway mark. It needed a 62-run stand in seven overs between Hussey and Miller to give the innings a lift. Amazon Warriors' Adam Zampa, the Australia legspinner, picked up two wickets to become the highest wicket-taker in the competition at this stage, with 12 scalps.

Warriors were lucky early in the chase as Martin Guptill was reprieved twice in the space of six deliveries. He contributed 19 in a 55-run opening stand with Dwayne Smith before being caught and bowled by Derone Davis, the left-arm spinner, in the seventh over. Six balls later, Smith was sent back for 32 by Shane Shillingford, the offspinner, to leave Warriors at 57 for 2.

But the required rate of a run-a-ball by the halfway mark allowed Mohammed and Lynn to steer clear of any pressure. The pair hit six sixes between them as Amazon Warriors won at a canter, with 16 balls to spare.

"Pitches are slow and low here, but the one we played on today was a lot better," Mohammed said after the game. "Having lost the last game, the boys were extra motivated to win here. We knew we had the skill-sets to chase this target down, and we're happy with the way it worked out. We're a win away from qualifying for the playoffs, but it's important to ride this momentum."