PROVIDENCE, GUYANA – JULY 21: LENDL SIMMONS of Guyana Amazon Warriors hits 4 during a match between Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel and Guyana Amazon Warriors as part of week 4 of the Caribbean Premier League 2015 at Guyana National Stadium on July 21, 2015 in Providence, Guyana.
(Photo by Randy Brooks/CPL)
PROVIDENCE, Guyana (CMC) — A brilliant half century from Lendl Simmons catapulted Guyana Amazon Warriors to a seven-wicket victory over Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel in the 30th game of the Caribbean Premier League here on Tuesday.
Simmons towered above challenging batting conditions with an outstanding unbeaten 65 as Warriors prevented Red Steel from topping the table and securing a direct entry to the finals of the competition.
South African pacer Marchant de Lange shattered the Red Steel top order with a destructive four-wicket haul while Sunil Narine and Devendra Bishoo choked the visitors in the middle overs.
Brad Hodge contributed a responsible 33 as Warriors secured victory with 18 balls remaining after restricting Red Steel to 117 for 8 in 20 overs at the Providence stadium.
The match signaled the end of the league-stage of the 2015 CPL season with Amazon Warriors finishing second while Red Steel, who needed a win to finish as leaders with an automatic path to the finals, took third place.
The Barbados Tridents will therefore advance straight to Sunday’s Final, while the Amazon Warriors go through to the Qualifier and the Red Steel must settle for a place in the Eliminator on Thursday against the Jamaica Tallawahs.
In an early show of aggression, Simmons went after the bowling in the power play to get the Amazon Warriors well ahead of the rate.
He faced 51 balls crashing five fours and three sixes.
There was a flicker of hope for the visitors when Assad Fudadin, who struggled alongside Simmons, and Captain Denesh Ramdin, were dismissed in quick succession.
Fudadin pulled a ball from captain Dwayne Bravo into the hands of Kevon Cooper at short midwicket and an over later Ramdin, advanced down the track to Johan Botha, was stranded outside his crease and was stumped.
However, Simmons and the experience of Brad Hodge, who was dismissed just before the end, guided the Amazon Warriors to a comfortable victory.
Earlier Red Steel, who won the toss and decided to bat, suffered an early setback when they lost Jacques Kallis in the second over trying to cut de Lange but got an outside edge for the ball to settle in Denesh Ramdin’s gloves.
De Lange, who finished with figures of four for 23, struck again a few balls later when Javon Searles, attempting a pull shot, got a leading edge towards backward of point to Christopher Barnwell.
The South African pacer picked up his third wicket when Darren Bravo remained on his crease and tried to run a ball with extra pace towards third man but got an outside edged to Ramdin.
Red Steel slid to 65 for the loss of four wickets approaching the tenth over after they lost Delport in the face of mounting pressure from the Warriors.
Delport, the only Red Steel batsman who seemed comfortable, faced 30 balls for his 44 runs which included a six and a four and his innings proved crucial to a Red Steel side which struggled to up the run rate against outstanding bowling.
He departed trying to cut a delivery from Hodge into the covers but Lendl Simmons impressed with a brilliant diving catch.
The visitors struggled in particular through the middle overs as Bishoo and Sunil Narine severely restricted the run rate with their spin attack, consistently beating bat and pad.
Bishoo finished with 2 for 19 while Narine picked up one wicket for 17 runs as they spun a Webb around the Red Steel batsmen.
Narine, trapped captain Dwayne Bravo with a delivery that hit the pad in front of middle and off as the visitors slipped further to six wickets for 97 runs.
Johan Botha struggled to put together a hard fought 22 runs from 33 balls before dragging a ball from Bishoo unto his stumps as Red Steel failed to significantly boost the run rat in the death overs.