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Shimron Hetmyer did not hit a single four in the Guyana Amazon Warriors’ 40-run defeat of the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots at Warner Park in Basseterre on Wednesday.
But the talented left-hander made up for it by smashing 11 sixes on his way to 91, the top score in the Warriors’ 266 for 7.
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The result, the fans were probably thinking at the halfway stage, was a foregone conclusion. But STKNP skipper Andre Fletcher and his team had other ideas.
In the powerplay, they got 94 runs, a number bettered only once in CPL history, and got to 226 before losing their last wicket.
The match tally of 492 runs had never been bettered in an Amazon versus Patriots game. And the total of 42 sixes in the match equalled the record for the most sixes in a T20 match, set by KKR in the IPL this year. And it broke the CPL record of 37.
Warriors captain Imran Tahir called Hetmyer’s knock “unbelievable” and said he “wanted to bowl first but then I looked at the pitch and thought of batting first to put them under pressure”.
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Oozing confidence, he revealed that there is always method to his bowling changes.
“I didn’t want to give another over to Kevin Sinclair, [who] did very well in the powerplay,” said Tahir. “I want to bowl the difficult overs […] and I always kept Motie’s over [in reserve] and he has been bowling amazingly.”
Tahir implied that he was never really worried despite the robust response by the Patriots.
“We were very lucky to have such a good total on the board but defending is also an art and […] we were able to do the job.”
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Man-of-the-Match Hetmyer (91, 39 balls, 11×6) was largely responsible for their “good total”.
After makeshift opener Kevin Sinclair and Shai Hope fell immediately after the end of the powerplay, he joined opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz (69, 37b, 6×6, 4×4) at the wicket. When they were separated a mere seven overs later, the Warriors had reached 169.
Hetmyer was dealing exclusively in maximums, his partner too had his foot on the accelerator and the manhattan was peopled mainly with tall skyscrapers.
Fletcher was visibly nonplussed and he would exact his revenge later. But it did not help that Odean Smith failed to hold on to a difficult return catch from Hetmyer, on 17, and then conceded 21 runs in his next over.
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Or that Keemo Paul (38, 14, 3×6, 4×4) took 25 off a single over from legbreak/googly bowler Mohammad Mohsin. And the usually reliable Evin Lewis made a mess of a chance from Hetmyer, on 68, in the very next over.
In the chase, Fletcher lost both Lewis (3) and Kyle Mayers (28), the pair who had put on a huge 199-run partnership against the St Lucia Kings in the previous game, early. So he took matters into his own hands.
The STKNP skipper raced to 53 off only 18 balls and ended with 81, including nine sixes and four fours. His fireworks kept his team well ahead of the 13-plus required run rate well into the chase.
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But Sherfane Rutherford (34, 12, 3×6, 3×4) holed out to Hope at long-on in the ninth over and Tahir (3/48) claimed two scalps in the tenth to slow the Patriots’ advance.
And when Fletcher mishit Gudakesh Motie (3/34) into Dwaine Pretorius’ safe hands at long-off, at 171 for 6 in the 13th over, the tempo dropped.
And the effort really ran out of steam.
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But Fletcher understandably pointed fingers at the bowling rather than the batting. Of the six Patriots bowlers used, only Veerasammy Permaul finished with an economy rate in single digits.
“What plays a big role is how the bowlers execute, ” Fletcher said post-match, not pulling his punches. “Bowling like this is unacceptable. It looks like school cricket. […] You cannot set fields when you are leaking runs on both sides.”
The Patriots will need to get it right in double-quick time if they are to stay afloat in this 2024 tournament.
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Second-last on the table after three games, they next host the second-placed team, Barbados Royals, who made light work of the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons on the weekend, on Friday.
It is not overstating things to say that this will be their most important game so far this season. If their campaign is to remain viable, only one result is acceptable.
“We are playing for the franchise,” Fletcher summed up their situation, “for the owners, for the fans, and we have to come back and win the last two games at home.”
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One thing is almost certain: they can expect no help from the ruthless Royals.
With four points from their two games, the defending champions have made the kind of steady start that would have been a part of their plans. Their next assignment pits them against the St Lucia Kings, who started the day on top of the table after two wins in two matches, at the Daren Sammy Ground in St Lucia on Saturday.
Should either team not bring its A-game on the day, they might well rue the slip-up in the battle for the top two places.
Photo: Garth Archibald/ Wired868
Summarised scores
Toss: Guyana Amazon Warriors
Guyana Amazon Warriors: 266 for 7 (20 overs) Shimron Hetmyer 91, Rahmanullah Gurbaz 69, Keemo Paul 38; Veerasammy Permaul 1/14
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots: 226 all out (18 overs) Andre Fletcher 81, Sherfane Rutherford 34, Kyle Mayers 28, Mikyle Louis 31; Gudakesh Motie 3/34, Imran Tahir 3/48, Dwaine Pretorius 2/46
Man-of-the-Match: Shimron Hetmyer
Result: Guyana Amazon Warriors win by 40 runs
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Earl Best taught cricket, French, football and Spanish at QRC for many years and has written consistently for the Tapia and the Trinidad and Tobago Review since the 1970’s.
He is also a former sports editor at the Trinidad Guardian and the Trinidad Express and is now a senior lecturer in Journalism at COSTAATT.
