Guyana Warriors top CPL Table after beating Kings

Half-centuries from Shimron Hetmyer and Shai Hope, helped the Guyana Amazon Warriors finish on top in the Caribbean Premier League with a comfortable 35 win over the St. Lucia Kings.

Hetmyer, named Player-of-the-Match, hit the top score of 58, and Hope supported with 56 to propel the home team to an impressive 207 for seven in their 20 overs.

The Warriors’ spinning trio of Imran Tahir, Moeen Ali, and Gudakesh Motie then restricted the Kings’ batsmen to 172 for seven, with opener Faf du Plessis smacking an unbeaten 92.

With the win, the Warriors jumped to the top of the CPL table with 14 points, the same as the Kings, but with a higher net run rate.

After winning the toss, the Warriors decided to bat first, and their top five batsmen all got starts, which took them to their eventual total.

Openers Azam Khan and Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 26 in an entertaining partnership of 49 in five overs.

But Noor Ahmad accounted for Khan, and David Wiese took out Gurbaz in four runs, leaving Warriors on 53-2.

Hope and Hetmyer came to the crease, producing an 85-run partnership in under nine overs. Hetmyer brought up his 50 off 25 balls from Shadrack Descarte with three consecutive boundaries in the 14th over.

Hetmyer eventually fell when he was caught off pacer Alzarri Joseph. He struck nine fours and one six in his 30-ball innings.

Hope blasted three sixes and a four in the 16th over against left-arm spinner Khary Pierre to bring up his ninth CPL 50 off 29 balls.

Together with Romario Shepherd, they belted 41 runs from two overs as the Warriors raced to 179 for three in the 17th over.

Hope fell after scoring his half-century, but Shepherd continued carrying the Warriors past the 200-run mark.

Wiese took three wickets, while Ahmad and Joseph each grabbed two for the Kings.

In reply, The Kings du Plessis and Ackeem Auguste had a 42-run partnership for the second wicket following the early loss of Johnson Charles.

But once Ali eliminated Auguste for 12, leaving the Warriors on 68 for three, the visitors struggled to recover.

Roston Chase was bowled by Tahir for five, dismissing Aaron Jones and Tim Seifert for one, as the Kings slumped to 75 for five.

It took du Plessis batting through the innings with Joseph, with an unbeaten 25, to help the Kings bat as many overs as possible to strengthen their net run rate if all three teams finish on 14 points.