By Neil Kumar,
GUYANA’S President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, was in full support as he joined in the winning euphoria, to see the Guyana Amazon Warriors humble the St Lucia Kings at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence. The Warriors, playing with tremendous determination to win, performed magnificently and with a pugnacious half century from the young Rahmanullah Gurbaz along with a splendid half century from the mature Shai Hope, the home team sent the mammoth crowd into real party mood.

Batting first, the St Lucia Kings lost an early wicket. However, their skipper, Fa du Plessis, blasted a masterful century and he received very solid support from Niroshan Dickwella who contributed a useful 36. However, the Warriors’ bowlers were able to stifle the other batsmen and contain them to a challenging 194.

The Warriors’ opening batsmen blasted the Kings bowlers in the superior overs and piloted the way to victory. Warriors’ skipper, Shimron Hetmyer, and Hope controlled the middle-order batting before Hope hammered the Kings bowlers to take his team home to victory. The impressive win catapulted the Guyana Amazon Warriors to two successive victories and strengthened their chances of securing a position in the play-off.

Winning signals the real strength and potential of the Warriors. However, the support of the massive Guyanese crowd and their young and enthusiastic President Ali were indeed a source of inspiration to our nation. The team returned home at the bottom of the points table. However, the Warriors are battle ready fully energised and with the thunderous chants from the thousands of supporters, victory is inevitable. The Guyana National Stadium was built by the PPP/C Government with the vision to bring our people together and make sure they gyrate and celebrate in unity. Cricket is indeed a unifying force and this is the season to see unity in diversity.

As our batsmen stroke the ball eloquently to the boundary, our fieldsmen make a superb dive and stop the ball or our bowlers produce a devastating spell of bowling, it is the massive roar and the touching of the fist and the high fives that demonstrate our people’s unity.

The remaining matches in this year Caribbean Premier League will bring excitement and the players’ passion and the spectators’ mission for victory are indeed a motivating force with our Guyanese people.
Let us continue to rally behind our Warriors.
Let’s go Warriors!