Guyana Amazon Warriors 165 for 6 (Smith 62, Mohammed 42*) beat St Kitts and Nevis Patriots 164 for 9 (Thomas 38, Hodge 38, Tanvir 4-20) by 4 wickets
Jason Mohammed steered Guyana Amazon Warriors to a thrilling four-wicket win over St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in Basseterre after Dwayne Smith laid the platform for the chase of 165 with a scorching 62 off 36.
Smith’s pyrotechnics in the first 10 overs included three fours and five sixes, and helped the visitors race to 91 by the halfway stage of their innings. However, his dismissal off the first legitimate ball of the 11th over enabled Patriots to claw their way back with regular strikes. Chris Lynn was run out two balls after Smith’s departure, while Chris Barnwell and Anthony Bramble nicked behind.
Jason Mohammad hit six fours during his unbeaten 42 off 29 balls © CPL/Sportsfile
With Amazon Warriors still requiring 30 off the last three overs, Mohammed took charge. He did so with aplomb, finding timely boundaries as the Patriots pacers missed their lengths in the slog overs. With two needed off two, Mohammed mistimed a slog towards midwicket, but Faf du Plessis, sprinting in from the deep, could not hold on to the catch and the batsmen scampered through for two to seal victory with a ball to spare. Mohammed finished with an unbeaten 42 off 29 balls.
Earlier, Sohail Tanvir was Amazon Warriors’ hero with the ball. The left-arm seamer began with a maiden, which included the wicket of Lendl Simmons for a five-ball duck. Tanvir was then re-introduced in the closing overs and conceded only 12 runs in his last two overs, while taking three wickets, including those of set batsmen Devon Thomas and Thisara Perera. Tanvir finished with figures of 4 for 20 while Australia legspinner Adam Zampa took 3 for 34 on CPL debut.
While middle-order cameos from Thomas, Perera and Brad Hodge helped Patriots to to 164 for 9, that total proved to be not quite enough in the end.
