Hetmyer 50 leads Amazon Warriors into semi-finals

SHIMRON Hetmyer regained the form he showed earlier in the tournament as Guyana Amazon Warriors booked a place in the semi-finals of the 2020 Hero Caribbean Premier League T20 tournament with a commanding seven-wicket victory over St Lucia Zouks, on Wednesday night.

After Zouks scored 109/7, Amazon Warriors made light work of the target getting to 110/3 in 13.5 overs at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba. Hetmyer cracked an unbeaten 56 off 36 balls with six fours and three sixes.

After ending his poor run of form in the last match with a half-century Brandon King could not continue that form as he was dismissed for five.

Chandrapaul Hemraj and Hetmyer then joined forces with a 39-run partnership.

Amazon Warriors were well poised to overhaul the total as they got to 55/1 after eight overs.

Hemraj was then dismissed for 26 by off-spinner Mohammad Nabi in the ninth over. The left-hander tried to play the ball on the on side, but the ball struck his leg and went on to hit the stumps.

Hetmyer then hit two sixes and three fours in one over off his former West Indies Under-19 team-mate Chemar Holder as Amazon Warriors raced to 82/2 after ten overs.

Hetmyer struck a straight four to get to his 50, his third fifty of the tournament.

Nicholas Pooran pulled Javelle Glenn for four, but trying a reverse sweep was caught on the boundary for ten. Ross Taylor (seven not out) and Hetmyer took Amazon Warriors home.

Earlier, the Zouks batsmen posted a modest 109/7 in 20 overs with wickets falling regularly. Opener Andre Fletcher and Leniko Boucher both fell for one as Zouks were reduced to 15/2 inside three overs.

Opener Rahkeem Cornwall played a cameo at the top of the innings, but needed to occupy the crease as he was the third player sent back to the pavilion for 21 when he was well caught by Naveen-ul-Haq. Naveen-ul-Haq, fielding at cover, had to run and dive forward to complete the catch to give fast bowler Romario Shepherd the wicket.

Zouks were now 26/3 in the sixth over and in need of a partnership. The fourth-wicket partnership between Najibullah Zadran and Kavem Hodge was worth 31, but the scoring rate was slow.

Zadran and Hodge fell in quick succession to Imran Tahir and Keemo Paul respectively as Zouks were now in trouble on 57/5 in the 13th over. Wickets continued to tumble as Amazon Warriors would have been smiling with the Zouks 76/7 in the 17th over.

An unbroken 33-run eighth-wicket stand between Glenn and Scott Kuggeleijn helped Zouks get past 100. Glen ended on 23 not out off 22 balls and Kuggeleijn was 13 not out. Paul and Naveen-ul-Haq were the best bowlers for Amazon Warriors with 2/25 and 2/24 respectively in their four-over spells.

SUMMARISED SCORES

St Lucia Zouks 109/7 (20 overs) (Javelle Glenn 23 not out, Rahkeem Cornwall 21; Keemo Paul 2/25, Naveen-ul-Haq 2/24) vs Guyana Amazon Warriors 110/3 (13.5 overs) (Shimron Hetmyer 56 not out, Chandrapaul Hemraj 26) Amazon Warriors won by seven wickets