-Faf du Plessis 103 not enough for Kings

By Clifton Ross
TWIN half-centuries from Ramanullah Gurbaz and Shai Hope upstaged a sublime century by St. Lucia Kings captain Faf du Plessis, as the Guyana Amazon Warriors strolled to an empathic six-wicket win last night at the Providence Stadium, completing their highest run-chase in CPL history.

It was an incredible chase by the home team who surged to 195-4 in 19.2 overs after a brutal knock of 52 of 26 balls (7×2 2×6) by 20 year-old Afghanistan opener Gurbaz, who set the pace for his team.

Hope, adjudged Man-of-the-match, followed up his half-century from Wednesday’s game, stroking 59 not out off 30, finding over the ropes on five occasions, with two fours to compliment another matching-winning knock for Guyana.

Batting first on arguably the best surface to date, the Kings racked up an imposing 194-5 in 20 overs, thanks to their Captain’s genius opening knock with the bat.

Providence yet again proved to be a magical place for batting, but the Warriors, just like they did the previous game by spoiling Brandon King’s century, did basically the same to du Plesiss who took an L despite playing a brilliant knock.

The former South African captain, toyed with the Amazon Warriors bowling, cracking a stylish 103 with 10 fours and six towering sixes; eating up a mere 59 balls for his 2nd T20 hundred.

Sri Lanka wicket-keeper Niroshan Dickwella, redeemed himself following a string of low scores, grafting 35 off 32 with five fours as he shared a 2nd wicket stand of 132 with Captain.

Guyana Amazon Warriors bowlers struggled to make inroads, with Bangladeshi international Shakib Al-Hasan bagging 2-33, to end as his team’s most successful bowler.

Gurbaz led a daunting chase from the inception, pouncing on anything loose as he and Chandrapaul Hemraj (29) piled on 81-runs for the 1st wicket.

Warriors captain Shimron Hetmyer hit one six and two fours in his knock of 36, adding 63 with Hope, who raised his form tremendously heading into the crucial stages of the tournament, notching up more than 100 runs from his first two games played at Providence.

Guyana will now turn their attention to arch rivals Trinbago Knight Riders, who they face tomorrow night in another must-win battle at Providence, starting at 19:00 hours.