Brandon King shines as Guyana make it seven from seven

Brandon King shines as Guyana make it seven from seven







Brandon King hit six sixes in his unbeaten knock of 81

Brandon King scored an unbeaten 59-ball 81 as Guyana Amazon Warriors cantered to an eight-wicket victory at the Daren Sammy International Stadium in Gros Islet. The win, achieved with 10 balls to spare, extended the Amazon Warriors' winning run to seven games, the team as yet unbeaten in this 2019 season of the CPL. In contrast, St Lucia Zouks captain Daren Sammy lamenting his side's failure to stitch back-to-back wins, which is exactly what they'll now require from their final two games to qualify out of the league stages.

This game served as a microcosm of the one big malady afflicting the Zouks this season - their inability to drive home advantageous match situations. Curiously, Sammy opted to bat first on Wednesday (September 25) night hoping to replicate their efforts from the previous day. But against an incisive bowling attack, their openers - Andre Fletcher and Rakheem Cornwall - were dismissed inside the PowerPlay.

As has been the case through the season, Guyana's spin twins, Chris Green and Imran Tahir, were hard to put away. While both spinners conceded at less than a run-a-ball despite operating inside the fielding restrictions, Tahir padded his fine effort with a maiden and a couple of wickets. Incidentally, the two combined at a crucial juncture to dismiss Colin Ingram (25 off 14), who'd hit two sixes and an equal number of fours in a 56-run third-wicket stand with Colin de Grandhomme.

Tahir getting Ingram not only forced de Grandhomme into a period of consolidation, it also exposed the crumbly Zouks middle-order to an inquisition from Ben Laughlin. Jahmar Hamilton and Sammy fell cheaply to Laughlin as the Zouks innings petered away despite scoring 80 in the first 10. To his credit, de Grandhomme kept the fight on. He was reprieved on 12 when Sherfane Rutherford dropped a dolly-of-a-catch and made most of a second life by smashing as many as five sixes in his 37-ball 65. Christopher Barnwell smashed three consecutive sixes off Romario Shepherd. But despite that 22-run assault in the 19th over, Zouks managed only 36 from the final five overs, finishing on a tame 161.

The total was never out of Guyana's reach once new opener Brandon King and Chandrapaul Hemraj added a half-century stand inside the PowerPlay. The visitors lost Hemraj and Shimron Hetmyer in quick succession but with King clouting sixes at will - hit six in all - and an experienced Shoaib Malik quietly turning the strike-over, the win was achieved without breaking a sweat.

Brief scores: St Lucia Zouks 161/7 in 20 overs (Colin de Grandhomme 65; Ben Laughlin 3-12, Imran Tahir 2-23) lost to Guyana Amazon Warriors 162/2 in 18.2 overs (Brandon King 81*; Fawad Ahmed 1-24) by eight wickets