Reigning champions Guyana Amazon Warriors defeated Antigua & Barbuda Falcons by 27 runs to book a place in the latter stages of the 2024 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL). The defeat for the Falcons means they are now eliminated and the final four for this year’s event is now set.
The Falcons won the toss and elected to field first and in restricting the Warriors to 135-7, they gave themselves a real chance of pulling off a surprise victory. The Falcons bowling attack shared the wickets around and did well to restrict the Warriors batting card, only eventual Player of the Match Moeen Ali managed to really do any damage with the bat in hand for Warriors.
The recently retired England international struck 42 off 33 balls including three fours and the same number of sixes before a nifty run out by Joshua James put an end to his innings and kept the target a manageable one.
The Falcons batting unit got plenty of starts but the side eventually suffered for the fact that none were converted into a meaningful score. Wickets fell in a steady stream and were shared around by the Warriors – Ali picking up 3-/9 with his wily off spin and South African seamer Dwayne Pretorious pocketing three wickets from just 2.5 overs.
It was a sparkling performance in both disciplines from Moeen Ali who described it as an ‘honour’ to play for the Warriors adding “the crowd is unbelievable at home, it surprised me nicely!”
The defeat sees the end of the road in the 2024 competition for the Falcons, they had their moments but with only three wins in 10 games they depart with plenty to ponder.
The Warriors look a dangerous outfit in all facets of the game and were cheered on raucously by their home crowd who were left at the end of the evening with every reason to believe a title defence is firmly on the cards.
The 2024 CPL Playoffs will feature the Guyana Amazon Warriors, Barbados Royals, Saint Lucia Kings and the Trinbago Knight Riders. (Sportsmax)
