Pooran's maiden T20 century flattens Patriots

NICHOLAS Pooran ended the Queen's Park Oval leg of the 2020 Hero Caribbean Premier League in spectacular fashion, blazing an unbeaten century to steer Guyana Amazon Warriors to a seven-wicket victory over St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, on Sunday.

Pooran and Ross Taylor took the match away from the Patriots with a 128-run fourth-wicket partnership to guide Amazon Warriors to 153/3 in 17.3 overs. Patriots scored 150/5 in 20 overs batting first.

Pooran hit spinner Ish Sodhi for three consecutive sixes to get to his 100. The left-hander needed to hit the third six to get to the milestone because Amazon Warriors only needed four runs for victory.

It was the first century of the 2020 tournament and Pooran's first in T20 cricket. He ended on 100 not out off 45 balls and struck four fours and ten sixes.

Earlier, Amazon Warriors had a poor start to their run chase as the top order continued to have a miserable tournament and were reduced to 26/3 after six overs.

Brandon King, the highest run scorer in the 2019 edition, was the first batsman dismissed for 14 when he skied a delivery from fast bowler Alzarri Joseph to wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin.

In the next over, off spinner Jon Russ Jaggesar grabbed two wickets to leave the Amazon Warriors reeling. Kevin Sinclair was caught and bowled for five, before Shimron Hetmyer was caught by Ramdin for one.

Taylor and Pooran steadied the innings as both settled quickly at the crease. The pair took the Amazon Warriors to 59/3 after ten overs with Pooran hitting two sixes and Taylor one.

​Pooran and Taylor would have needed to keep an eye on the required run rate as at the halfway point of the innings it had already gone past nine.

Pooran brought the required rate down with one four and two sixes in the 11th over. The second six was a massive hit over the mid-wicket boundary.

Pooran hit Joseph for a boundary on the off side to bring up his 50.

It was not all power by Pooran as the sixes were interrupted by excellent running between the wickets by the pair.

In the 17th over, the onslaught by Pooran continued as he hit Sohail Tanvir for six over long off, followed by a four down to square leg.

​He then punished Sodhi with three sixes in succession to end the match.

Earlier, a 68-run fourth-wicket partnership between Joshua Da Silva and Ramdin propelled Patriots to a competitive 150/5 in 20 overs.

Patriots were reduced to 51/3 in the tenth over with Kieran Powell (two), Evin Lewis (15) and Ben Dunk (19) all back in the pavilion.

​Da Silva, who was a reserve for West Indies on the recent tour of England, ting XI, and Ramdin rebuilt the innings. After a watchful period, Da Silva struck medium pacer Keemo Paul for two sixes in one over as Patriots carried the total to 85/3 after 14 overs.

Ramdin and Da Silva, both from TT, made familiar conditions at the Oval count as they dominated the Amazon Warriors bowlers. The 15th over bowled by spinner Ashmead Nedd leaked 12 runs as Ramdin chipped down the wicket and hit a six over wide long on. The Patriots pair also ran well between the wickets with Ramdin pushing his younger team-mate.

Da Silva got Patriots to 100 with a four over the covers off Imran Tahir and brought up his 50 in the next over.

Da Silva's valuable innings came to an end when he was bowled by Romario Shepherd for 59. His innings came off 46 balls and included five fours and two sixes.

Ramdin struck Paul for a six in the penultimate over, before Tanvir was run out for one by Paul backing up.

Ramdin ending on 37 not out off 30 balls.

​Amazon Warriors are now third on the six-team table with three wins and four losses. Patriots are last with one win from their seven matches.

SUMMARISED SCORES

St Kitts and Nevis Patriots 150/5 (20 overs) (Joshua Da Silva 59, Denesh Ramdin 37 not out; Chris Green 2/31) vs Guyana Amazon Warriors 153/3 (17.3 overs) (Nicholas Pooran 100 not out, Ross Taylor 25 not out; Jon Russ Jaggesar 2/33) Amazon Warriors won by seven wickets