'Hetty,' Shepherd power defending champs Warriors past the woeful Patriots

Defending Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) champions Guyana Amazon Warriors ended a two-game losing skid on September 20 when they got a 30-run victory versus the cellar-placed St Kitts and Nevis Patriots (SKNP) in a low-scoring affair at Providence Stadium, Guyana.

On a tricky surface that kept the ball low and offered quite a bit of turn for the spinners, the hosts made 137 for eight after solid contributions from Man of the Match Shimron Hetmyer (63 off 33 balls) and Romario Shepherd (34 not out off 22).

Searching for their second win in a torrid campaign, the Patriots' hopes were pinned on out-of-favour Windies opening batsman Evin Lewis who top-scored with 49 off 46 balls. However, when Lewis was dismissed at the end of the 15th over chasing a wide delivery from South African seamer Dwaine Pretorius (one for 22), it signalled a collapse of epic proportions for SKNP as they lost their last six wickets for just 16 runs to be bowled out for a paltry 107.

Entering the Warriors attack in the 15th over, Windies pacer Shamar Joseph (three for nine) had an immediate impact on the game as he ended Lewis' partnership with Rilee Rossouw (11) with a brilliant run out in his follow-through to send the latter back to the pavilion with the score on 91 for five.

Joseph then helped to drive the final nail into the SKNP coffin as his hostile short bowling earned him the double-strike of Dominic Drakes (three) and Anrich Nortje (duck) in the 17th over, before he grabbed the final wicket of Ryan John (five) via the lbw route in the 19th over.

Earlier, when other batsmen seemed to struggle with the surface, Hetmyer took the attack to the SKNP bowling and he played an important counter-attack hand after Guyanese left-arm spinner Ashmead Nedd (four for 25) got rid of Tim Robinson and Kevin Sinclair (both duck) in the first over to leave the opposing Guyanese franchise in trouble on one for two.

Hetmyer slammed three sixes off Nedd in the third over, and he clouted two more sixes and four fours in his innings before he was trapped lbw by Proteas spinner Tabraiz Shamsi (two for 13) in the 12th over.

With Hetmyer out of the way, Nedd came back into the attack to account for the scalps of Keemo Paul (two) and Gudakesh Motie (duck) in the 15th over as the Warriors slipped to 93 for seven.

The Warriors appeared to be hobbling to a below-par score, but for the second consecutive game, Shepherd rescued his team's innings at the death. The powerful right-hander hit three massive sixes and a four off the last four balls of the innings from John to help the hosts score 24 in the last over as they got to their fighting score of 137.

At the halfway stage, Hetmyer felt the score was above par. The total proved more than enough for the Warriors who moved up to eight points, and temporarily occupied second spot on the six-six-team table before St Lucia Kings' win over Barbados Royals on September 21.

Summarised Scores:

GUYANA AMAZON WARRIORS – 137/8 from 20 overs (Shimron Hetmyer 63, Romario Shepherd 34 not out; Ashmead Nedd 4/25, Tabraiz Shamsi 2/13) vs ST KITTS & NEVIS PATRIOTS – 107 from 18.3 overs (Evin Lewis 49, Andre Fletcher 15; Shamar Joseph 3/9, Moeen Ali 2/9). Amazon Warriors won by 30 runs.