Guyana dispatch St Kitts with ease courtesy McDermott and Hope as bowlers set up the win for Amazon Warriors.
McDermott and Hope give Guyana Amazon Warriors comprehensive win over Patriots.
The Guyana Amazon Warriors made it look very simple by defeating the St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots in their opening match of the 2025 CPL by bowling well enough to set a modest target and then scoring runs with 16 balls remaining. With help from Shai Hope, who smashed an undefeated 56 in 39 balls, Ben McDermott made the chase a canter with a hammering 75 in 39 balls, but the bowlers set up the victory for Amazon Warriors.
After a hilarious bit of (mis)fielding from Romario Shepherd in the deep, Amazon Warriors decided to field and had a bit of luck early on when Evin Lewis, who had looked in good form the night before, injured his bottom hand while hitting a swivel-pull off Shamar Joseph in the second over that went for four. Lewis was forced to retire due to injury.
Soon after Dwaine Pretorius eliminated Kyle Mayers, they made their own luck. However, there was a significant, albeit slow, stand between starter Andre Fletcher and Rilee Rossouw. Rossouw struggled all the way, hitting 12 in 14 balls before falling to Imran Tahir, but they managed to score 45 runs in 28 balls.
Before falling in the 17th over with the scoreboard showing 114 for 5, Fletcher managed to keep the innings together by scoring 60 in 41 balls. Far below par. Jyd Goolie, who scored an undefeated 15-ball 24, and Abbas Afridi, who struck a five-ball 10, provided the catalyst that allowed Patriots to reach a respectable total.
The bowling effort from the Amazon Warriors was comprehensive. Moeen Ali bowled one and was the only bowler without a wicket out of the six. Tahir received two, and Pretorius received three.
After Kevlon Anderson was dismissed by Fazalhaq Farooqi in the second over, the Patriots’ defence got off to a strong start, but they had to chase leather after that as McDermott and Hope scored 114 runs for the second wicket off of just 59 balls.
McDermott fell at the end of the 11th over. The Player-of-the-Match title went to him for his innings, which featured four sixes and ten fours.
Hope managed to complete the task by smashing 56 in 39 balls with five fours and two sixes, despite a couple more wickets falling.
The defeat for the defeated Patriots occurred the day after they defeated the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons in their opening match, which also happened to be the first match of the tournament.