Hetmyer, Shadab set up dominant win for Guyana

Guyana Amazon Warriors registered their second straight win with a dominant performance against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots. With a strong start with the ball courtesy of spinners Chris Green and Shadab Khan, Warriors were able to control the Patriots' batting through the middle overs in damp conditions, and restrict them to a total - 153 - that they chased down with seven balls to spare on the back of two half-century stands. Shimron Hetmyer's 70 not-out off 47 led the way after Chandrapaul Hemraj's 24-ball 39 had given them a brisk start. Patriots have now lost both their games.

Chris Green began well for Warriors after they elected to bowl. But in the second over, having kept the first five balls to six runs, Keemo Paul overstepped as he bowled Kjorn Ottley. The free-hit that followed was a four and also a no-ball. What should have been 9 for 1 at the end of the second over, ended up being 19 for 0 as the second free-hit went for four as well.

But Ottley ran out of luck in the next over, as he took off for a run when Evin Lewis deflected the ball into the leg side and did not respond. Wicketkeeper Nicholas Pooran put in the throw at the non-striker's end to run him out.

Keemo was out of the attack and spinners Green and Shadab Khan bowled five of the six Powerplay overs, giving barely anything to the batsmen. Lewis hit Green over his head off the back foot, but holed out to deep square off Shadab. Only 31 came from the Powerplay.

Devon Thomas and Mohammad Hafeez had the task of rebuilding, and they managed to do that with a 54-run stand before Hafeez holed out to long-off against Shadab. There was little control during the partnership, despite its importance. Until the 16th over, almost all of Thomas' boundaries came off the outside edge down at third man. Hafeez was also dropped at sweeper cover on an evening where despite keeping things quiet, the Warriors fielders were circumspect because of the dew.

Keemo continued to have poor luck, edges off his bowling helping Thomas along before he clubbed Shadab for two sixes in a row,in the 16th over, to get past 50, his second in CPL. Keemo did, however, have Brathwaite caught at short midwicket for a second-ball duck - the dew going in the bowler's favour this time, imparting extra skid as Brathwaite tried to pull. He could have had Fabian Allen caught at fine leg too, but the top edge didn't quite carry and that ball also rolled into the boundary, another one of the nine fours that came behind the wicket.

Thomas made 62 and was eventually caught at the midwickwet boundary in the 18th over, brilliantly by Shadab tearing to his left. In the last 14 balls from that point, Allen hit two delightful sixes, one carved over deep cover and one smacked wide of deep midwicket. His 33 of 19 and Alzarri Joseph's unbeaten 10 off the last two balls helped Patriots to 153.

The second innings began differently. Off the first ball, Brandon King drove Sheldon Cottrell past the stumps to pick up four. Chandrapaul Hemraj was equally dominant in front of the wicket, starting with an expert cut over cover off a short ball. He chipped Mohammad Hafeez neatly over extra over soon after, and then hit short bowling from legspinner Usama Mir over and wide of long-on in the space of three balls. Where Green and Shadab had turned the screws in the Powerplay, Hafeez and Usama were dismantled - their two overs went for a combined 28. Warriors made 55 in the Powerplay without losing a wicket. Usama didn't bowl another over on the night.

Allen took a stunning catch flying to his right at point to dismiss Hemraj off Brathwaite, but Patriots didn't take their other chances. As Thomas had earlier, Hetmyer, too, struggled for rhythm, missing a lot but also offering more chances than the former. He was involved in three mix-ups, two of them with King where either of them could have been dismissed at the non-striker's end with plenty of time for the fielders at midwicket to get their throws in. Both opportunities were squandered.

Shortly after he survived a third run-out chance, Hetmyer turned the tables on Joseph, who had caused him most trouble early in the innings. He lifted the fast bowler over mid-off, drove a full ball wide of long-on, and clobbered a short ball over the midwicket boundary to come close to his fifty. By the time he got it, captain Shoaib Malik was at the crease with him and the pair saw them through with an unbroken 64-run stand.