Sixy Hetmyer, all-round Motie seal Guyana Amazon Warriors' final spot

Shimron Hetmyer went 6, 6, 6, 6, 2, 6 off Fabian Allen to pump life into Guyana Amazon Warriors' (GAW) chase of 126 against Hobart Hurricanes (HH), as Amazon Warriors warmed up for the GSL final by beating Hurricanes by four wickets. From 43 for 3 after nine overs in pursuit of 126, Amazon Warriors won with more than three overs to spare as Hetmyer crashed 39 off just ten balls - including another six, off Usama Mir.

But the win was set up by Gudakesh Motie's economical spell of 3 for 9, and Moeen Ali's twin strikes in the second over of the Hurricanes innings, after they elected to bat first. Moeen got Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Jake Doran within three deliveries to reduce Hurricanes to 14 for 2.

Dwaine Pretorius then bowled Ben McDermott for 21 off nine balls to make it 28 for 3 in the third over, which had begun with McDermott smashing Pretorius for three boundaries in a row. Despite the three early wickets, though, Hobart didn't take a step back. Nikhil Chaudhary and Macalister Wright added 29 runs in the second half of the powerplay, including three fours and a six.

But Amazon Warriors introduced Motie in the seventh over, and there was a turnaround. Motie had Chaudhary stumped first ball for 21, and trapped Wright in front for 16 off his fourth ball. What was 65 for 3 became 77 for 6 when Imran Tahir cleaned Odean Smith up. Mohammad Nabi and Allen staged another brief recovery with a 35-run stand, but Tahir and Motie cleaned the tail up to bowl Hurricanes out for 125.

In reply, Amazon Warriors had their share of worries as well. They were 29 for 2 after seven overs, as Nabi, Billy Stanlake, Chaudhary and Usama Mir kept a lid on the scoring. Stanlake had bowled Johnson Charles for 8 in the first over while Nabi got Rahmanullah Gurbaz lbw for 7 in the fourth.

Moeen, who had walked in at No. 4, was struggling to get going, with only eight runs coming off his first 17 deliveries. But he ended the eighth over by swinging Nabi for a six. Next over, Mir got Evin Lewis for 7, and with GAW three down and stuck at 43 in nine overs, it looked like HH would give tough competition despite a small total to defend.

But Hetmyer's six-laden cameo provided a dramatic twist. Although Stanlake had Sherfane Rutherford caught for 3 after Hetmyer fell to Mir, Motie's 19 off 13 balls and Moeen's patient 30* from 36 deliveries took Amazon Warriors home.