Saint Lucia Kings bounced back to winning ways courtesy Ackeem Auguste’s 35-ball 73 which saw the hosts chase down 203 with 11 balls to spare against the Guyana Amazon Warriors. Romario Shepherd continued his good form for the Warriors with similar exploits (73 off 34) but it eventually came in a losing cause. It is also the Warriors’ first defeat of the season.
After the Warriors opted to bat, Ben McDermott and Kevlon Anderson scored a boundary each to get off the mark. McDermott then lined up left-arm spinner Khary Pierre in a 15-run over where he scored 6,4,4. A six off Keon Gaston followed but McDermott served a dolly to Tim David at mid-on. Gaston struck twice in the over with fellow opener Anderson hitting one straight to David.
The Warriors’ innings continued to derail, losing their third in the PowerPlay with Pierre rattling timber to see the back of Moeen Ali. Even Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer couldn’t pull off a whirlwind partnership like they did on Saturday as the latter attempted a suicidal run-out, only to be found short by a powerful David throw to leave the Warriors at 47/4. Iftikhar Ahmed and Hope began the rebuild in a 31-run partnership before the latter holed out to mid-on.
Shepherd wasted no time when he came out to bat smashing his first ball into the stands while Iftikhar chipped in with a maximum too. Shepherd showcased his brute strength in the 15th over against Oshane Thomas, in a ginormous 33-run over. He smashed three sixes and a four while Iftikhar added a six with Thomas helping their cause with three no-balls. Gaston was equally punished by Shepherd in a 27-run 15th over. The allrounder brought up his fifty with two sixes and a four in the over while the bowler troubled the scorers with six wides in a 12-ball over. The Kings saw the back of Iftikhar after a handy 33 but there was no stopping Shepherd. He once again scored 17 off the final over off Gaston as the Warriors raced past 200. The visitors had scored 107 runs in the last six overs.
Knowing what was at stake, Johnson Charles and Tim Seifert began the chase with the former being the aggressor in his short stay at the crease. He scored two quick boundaries before top-edging one to the ‘keeper. Seifert was joined by Auguste and despite the latter beginning his innings with twos and threes, the duo scored 15 off Blades’ second over before smashing Moeen for 18 runs in his first over. The Warriors’ turned to veteran Imran Tahir but he was treated with disdain by Auguste. The left-hander lined him up nicely and scored 6,4,4,4 as the Kings raced to 86/1 in the PowerPlay.
Auguste moved to his 50, the fastest of the CPL season in just 19 balls. The Warriors finally broke through after an 87-run stand as Seifert holed out to long-off against Tahir. It could have been worse for the Kings but Auguste was dropped two balls later, a body blow for the Warriors. Auguste continued to deal in boundaries before picking out the man in the deep. This was sandwiched by Roston Chase falling for a quick six-ball 12. David and Aaron Jones scored 14 each off the 14th and 15th over to bring the equation down to 31 runs off the last five overs.
Both batters fell in the last five overs, but played a valuable hand to keep the game in the Kings’ grasp. David Wiese finished the game with a boundary as the Kings won by four wickets.
Brief Scores: Guyana Amazon Warriors 202/6 in 20 overs (Romario Shepherd 73*, Iftikhar Ahmed 33; Keon Gaston 257, Khary Pierre 1-30) lost to Saint Lucia Kings 203/6 in 20 overs (Ackeem Auguste 73, Tim Seifert 37; Gudakesh Motie 2-32, Jediah Blades 2-35) by 4 wickets
