Guyana Amazon Warriors advance to Hero CPL final

SPURRED ON by a boisterious home crowd, the Guyana Amazon Warriors advanced to the final of the 2018 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) by virtue of a nail-biting two-wicket victory over the reigning champions Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) in today's playoff match, at the Providence Stadium, Guyana.

But the TKR will have another bite at the cherry, in front of their home fans, on Friday.

Today, the Jamaica Tallawahs and St Kitts/Nevis Patriots will face off in the first eliminator at the Providence Stadium. The winners of that game will meet the TKR in the second eliminator two days later, at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba, while the losers will make their exit from this year's tournament.

The TKR, who were sent in to bat first by Amazon Warriors captain Chris Green, on a slow surface, were restricted to 122 runs off their allotted 20 overs with Colin Ingram topscoring with 25. There were other useful knocks from the Bravo brothers Darren and Dwayne, who scored 24 and 22 respectively.

Green took two wickets for eight runs with his off-breaks, with deposed skipper Rayad Emrit and fellow pacer Sohail Tanvir getting 2/22 and 2/38 respectively.

In response, the Amazon Warriors were guided by a crucial knock of 39 from Man of the Match Shimron Hetmyer and a vital 30 from another left-hander Sherfane Rutherford as they reached 126/8 with two deliveres remaining.

Tanvir brought up the win with a striaght six, off Dwayne Bravo, to spark wild celebrations from the Guyanese fans.

Scoreboard

GUYANA AMAZON WARRIORS vs TRINBAGO KNIGHT RIDERS

Trinbago Knight Riders inns:

S Narine c Shepherd b Green*8

B McCullum LBW b Tanvir*0

C Munro c Mohammed b Green*0

D Ramdin LBW b Tahir*15

C Ingram c Shepherd b Emrit*25

DM Bravo c Ronchi b Tanvir*24

DJ Bravo c Tahir b Emrit*22

K Cooper not out*15

EXTRAS (B2, W9, NB2)*13

Total for seven wickets (20 overs)*122

Did not bat: F Ahmed, K Pierre, A Khan.

Fall of wickets: 5; 6; 24; 26; 74; 86; 122.

BOWLING: Tanvir 4-0-38-2 (NB1); Green 4-1-8-2 (W2); Tahir 4-0-22-1 (W2); Shepherd 4-0-30-0 (NB1, W4); Emrit 4-0-22-2 (W1).

Guyana Amazon Warriors inns:

C Delport c Pierre b Ahmed*2

L Ronchi c Narine b Pierre*13

S Hetmyer run out (Ingram)*39

J Mohammed LBW b Narine*3

C Walton run out (Pierre/Ramdin)*13

C Green c DJ Bravo b Pierre*0

S Rutherford c DJ Bravo b Cooper*30

S Tanvir not out*10

R Emrit c Ramdin b DJ Bravo*1

R Shepherd not out*13

EXTRAS (LB2)*2

Total for eight wickets (19.5 overs)*126

Did not bat: I Tahir

Fall of wickets: 10; 23; 29; 52; 52; 102; 102; 105.

BOWLING: Khan 2-0-18-0; Narine 4-0-9-1; Ahmed 4-0-19-1; Pierre 4-0-18-2; DJ Bravo 3.5-0-39-1; Cooper 2-0-21-1.

Result: Guyana Amazon Warriors won by two wickets.

Man of the Match: Shimron Hetmyer (Guyana Amazon Warriors).