Warriors alive after Walton show
Chadwick Walton clubbed a brutal 92 off just 57 balls. (Photo: Adrian Narine)
Chadwick Walton clubbed a brutal 92 off just 57 balls. (Photo: Adrian Narine)

THE Guyana Amazon Warriors kept their 2017 Hero Caribbean Premier League campaign alive after opener Chadwick Walton waded into the Barbados Tridents’ attack to hasten a four-wicket win last evening at the National Stadium, Providence.

The Warriors season as of last night was quickly becoming a matter of pride. With one win from six games, a loss last evening could have severely dented the Warriors semi-final qualification chances.
But, Walton clubbed a brutal 92 off just 57 balls, with seven fours and six sixes, in a clinical show of power. His approach to what seemed a stiff target was simple outstanding, as the Warriors reached 160-6, with five balls to spare.
With five runs needed from the last over, Assad Fudadin hit a first-ball four before a wide secured the win.
Earlier in the evening, the Warriors were brutalised by a Dwayne Smith storm, who chalked up his fourth T20 century, with a brutal display of hitting that set the hosts a challenging target.
Smith, once a Warriors recruit, bullied his way to a magnificent 100 from just 70 balls, as the Warriors bowlers had little answer to his broad strokes, knowing that their margin for error was so small.
However, there is not a lot any bowler can do when Smith is in this kind of mood. He smashed ten fours and five sixes.

Dwayne Smith after reaching his fourth T20 hundred. (Photo: Adrian Narine)

But the Warriors had only themselves to blame for the debacle, as they made one costly blunder in the 13th over when Smith received an unexpected lifeline when Keemo Paul had him caught on the long-on boundary off a no-ball, which was confirmed from multiple replays.
The Warriors were left ruined after the let-off, with their bowlers erratic in the final stretch, leaking 81 runs in the last seven overs.
Asked to bat first, the Tridents endured two quiet overs before Smith got the innings going, with three boundaries off Sohail Tanvir, hitting the first through cover, the second wide of mid-on and the third pulled imperiously into the deep backward square leg region.
But the steady rotation in the bowling department allowed the Tridents only ten runs in the next three overs, as they exited the Powerplay at 27 without loss.
Both Smith and Kane Williamson (47 off 43), played responsibly in the middle-overs, striking occasional boundaries, but making clear efforts not to give their wickets away, and at half-way through the innings they were 61-0.
However, their patience paid dividends, and they added 107 for the first wicket, which set the tone for the tourists.
Smith continued the assault, and even the dismissal of Williamson in the 16th over to leg-spinner Rashid Khan could not prevent the onslaught.
Joined by his captain, Kieron Pollard, Smith also dominated the 47 run second-wicket stand, hitting 19 runs each off Paul and Rayad Emrit in the 18th and 19th overs, respectively.
He brought up his century in the final over bowled by Tanvir. In that over the visitors lost three wickets, including both Smith and Pollard, along with Nicholas Pooran.
The Warriors were off to a solid beginning as their new opening combination of Walton and Tanvir, in for the out-of-form Martin Guptill, put on 48 in 31 balls before the latter was removed by Imran Khan for 16.
Gajanand Singh joined Walton, but his stay at the crease was short, and at the end of the Powerplay, the Warriors were 71-2.
Unperturbed by those dismissals, Walton raised his fifty just off 27 balls, with five fours and three sixes. He and Guptill added 71 for the second wicket, with the captain contributing 27 off 33 balls.
However, both were dismissed in the 17th over, bowled by Pollard, with the Warriors 15 runs short of the target.
Jason Mohammed and Assad Fudadin took the score to 152 before Pollard removed Mohammed and Paul off consecutive balls in the 19th over.
The Warriors will now play the St Lucia Stars tomorrow from 18:00hrs.

SCOREBAORD

BARBADOS Tridents innings
D Smith c Singh b Tanvir 100
K Williamson c Permaul b Khan 47
K Pollard c Khan b Tanvir 6
N Pooran b Tanvir 0
S Springer not out 0
T Webster not out 2
Extras: (lb-2, nb-2) 4
Total: (four wickets; 20 overs) 159
Fall of wickets: 1-107, 2-152, 3-157, 4-157
Bowling: Tanvir 4-0-40-3, Permaul 4-0-20-0, Emrit 4-0-36-0, Khan 4-0-21-1, Jacobs 2-0-20-0, Paul 2-0-20-0

GUYANA AMAZON WARRIORS innings
C Walton c Williamson b Pollard 92
S Tanvir c Springer b Khan 16
G Singh b Hosein 0
M Guptill c Williamson b Pollard 27
J Mohammed c Webster b Pollard 5
A Fudadin not out 7
K Paul c Williamson b Pollard 0
R Emrit not out 1
Extras: (lb-3, nb-1, w-8)
Total: (six wickets; 19.1 over) 160
Fall of wickets: 1-48, 2-64, 3-145, 4-145, 5-152, 6-152
Bowling: Rampaul 4-0-37-0, Parnell 4-0-26-0, Hosein 3-0-28-1, Khan 2-0-27-1, Pollard 4-0-16-4, Jacobs 1-0-12-0, Springer 1-0-11-0

 

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