THE AMAZON Warriors thrashed the Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel by 7 wickets with 18 balls to spare in the final Group stage match on the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) last evening at the Guyana National Stadium. Chasing 118, the Warriors got off to a cracker thanks to Lendl Simmons, who slammed 41 of the 47 during the power play.
Simmons was on fire as he hammered boundaries all round the field, inclusive of a maximum into the window of the Media Centre, much to the delight of the Warriors fans.
However, opening partner Assad Fudadin (9) and skipper Denesh Ramdin (5) went cheaply within an over of each other. Fudadin was caught at short midwicket after being choked up and Ramdin ironically stumped by Kamran Akmal after trying to advance to Johan Botha.
Simmons, however, continued his blazing form, partnering with the mature Brad Hodge to settle the innings. Consecutive sixes from Hodge, the first into the crowd at backward square leg and the second over wide long on sent the fans into jubilation in the 15th over.
Hodge, however, did not stick around much longer as he was bowled by tournament’s leading wicket-taker Dwayne Bravo for 32 (25 balls, 2×4, 2×6).
Simmons ended unbeaten on 66 off 51 balls with five boundaries and three huge maximums. He hit the winning run.
Umar Akmal was unbeaten on three. For the bowlers, only Botha and the skipper picked up wickets.
Earlier, the Steel lost wickets cheaply. Kallis (3), Javon Searles (6), Darren Bravo (3) Dwayne Bravo (5) and Kamran Akmal (10) were some of the batsmen who failed to get going. Cameron Delport stuck around for a bit hitting 44 (30 balls, 6×4 1×6), mixing some textbook cover drives and cheeky reverse-sweeps.
However, Delport’s innings ended when he drove one to Simmons at cover. Botha also contributed a patient 22 but no other player really came to the party.
Merchant de Lange ended with 4 for 23 off 4 overs while Devendra Bishoo had 2 for 19 off his 4 overs. Brad Hodge and Sunil Narine each picked up one wicket.
The first playoff will feature Chris Gayle’s Jamaican Tallawahs taking on Bravo’s Red Steel tomorrow at the Queens Park Oval.
The winner of the first playoff will face the Amazon Warriors in the second playoff on Saturday for a spot in the final against the defending champions, Barbados Tridents.

By Stephan Sookram