Guyana Amazon Warriors made it two from two in their home leg of the 2022 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) with a six-wicket victory over Saint Lucia Kings, at the Providence Stadium in Guyana, on Thursday night.
The Kings won the toss and opted to bat first, and their captain Faf Du Plessis showed why with a magnificent century to lead the way.
He scored 103 off 59 balls to help his side to 194 for five off their allotted 20 overs, the highest team total in the Hero CPL this year.
The victory target of 195 looked like a formidable task but the Amazon Warriors had other ideas.
Rahmunullah Gurbaz (52) and Chandrapaul Hemraj (29) got the Amazon Warriors’ reply off to a fantastic start reaching 71 runs at the end of the Powerplay and that enabled the Warriors to always be in the hunt for victory.
Despite a flurry of wickets after the Powerplay, Shai Hope (59 not out) and captain Shimron Hetmyer (36) paced the chase superbly and the Warriors were able to get home with four balls to spare.
Earlier the Kings had shown what a good wicket it was, teeing off from ball one to reach 100 runs in 10 overs.
Du Plessis was faultless in his stroke play targeting all corners of the ground and brought up his century in the 17th over of the match.
Late runs from Roston Chase (17 not out) helped the Kings set the Warriors 195 to win but if the chase seemed insurmountable the Warriors made light of it in front of a fever-pitch Providence crowd.
Gurbaz set the tone in the Powerplay blasting 52 off 26 balls and this laid the platform for Hope and Hetmyer to pace the remainder of the chase appropriately.
When Hetmyer fell for 36, Hope simply took up the mantle leading the Warriors home with a superb half-century.
His 59 runs came off 30 balls as he made it back-to-back fifties in the Hero CPL and consecutive wins for the Amazon Warriors, which moved to seven points for fifth place, just outside of the playoff spots.
St Lucia Kings remain second on eight points, eight behind tournament leaders Barbados Royals on 16 points.
Third-place Jamaica Tallawahs and fourth-place St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, which occupied the other two playoff spots, are also on eight points.
Summarized scores:
Saint Lucia Kings 194/5 (Du Plessis 103, Dickwella 36; Al Hasan 2/33, Shepherd 1/19).
Guyana Amazon Warriors 195/4 (Hope 59*, Gurbaz 52; Deyal 2/32, Joseph 1/20) beat Saint Lucia Kings 194/5 (Du Plessis 103, Dickwella 36; Al Hasan 2/33, Shepherd 1/19).