THE stage is set for the Guyana Amazon Warriors second shot at a spot in the finals the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League 2024 Final.
From 19:00 hours at the Guyana National Stadium Providence, the hometown Heros, led by Veteran spinner Imran Thair will take advantage of their group stage finish to have a second crack at the final spot in Caribbean’s cricket showpiece.
GAW should feel hard-done by the rains Wednesday evening in their qualifier 1 which they lost by 15 runs to the St Lucia Kings via the DLS method at the same venue.

When the rains came, Shimron Hetmyer was the crease with his foot firmly on the gas pedal in race against the precipitation to up scoring rate, a battle he ultimately lost.
However, the inundation was too much for even the providence stadium to take off, the venue its own centre of controversy for a light failure just over 24 hours prior.

The Warriors however should take solace in the fact that they were able to restrict the Kings to 198/5 in 20 after the opening pair of captain, Faf Du Plesis and Jhonson Charles rag-dolled bowlers in the first 10 overs, firmly in control at 115/0.
The experience of Moen Ali in the middle overs not only took wickets but made the Kings’ batsmen think twice about attacking him which meant that for the first time in the game, the Warriors were on the attacking front and not the defensive one.
They will also be warmed by the fact that their catching in the deep has been exceptional, Rahmanullah.
Gurbaz and Kemo Paul taking blinders on the straight boundaries to dismiss both openers.

They will however be mindful of Shai Hope’s glove-work behind the wicket with several runs leaking through the Barbadian and may consider giving the gloves back to Azam Khan should he be selected.
Given the fact that the last time these two met, the Warriors clobbered 219 in a batsman’s paradise, they will be wary of the Royals thirst now more than ever.
On the converse side, the Barbados Royals had a roller coaster ride into the qualifier on Tuesday evening after a fortunate or unfortunate series of events ended with them winning a 5 over blinder against the Trinbago Knight Riders.

Their bowling was under assault from Nicholas Pooran when a light failure one ball into the ultimate over curtailed the innings, TKR 168/3 and looking to close off on 180.
The more than two-hour delay set things in favour of the TKR side if the lights failed to return, a no result sending the twin island republic through to the qualifier.

With the end of playing time quickly approaching and seemingly no fix in place, it seemed as though TKR would advance based on their better position on the points table in the round robin phase.

However, Guyanese ingenuity managed to fix the problem just in time and when the lights came back on, the Barbados Royals were facing a revised total of 60 from 5 overs.

All eyes were focused on the bowling choices of TKR Captain Pollard and the inform Barbados Royals Quinton De Kock, one of the most explosive batters in the 2024 tournament.
When he departed just three balls into the 30-ball chase, the TKR side surely had felt that this was their game.

Rovman Powell was joined by David Miller, another big hitting South African who hadn’t been that prolific this year, but the fuse had been lit.
Miller smashed it to all corners, a brutal reminder of both how physically strong and mentally agile the left hander is at the drop of a hat.
The bludgeoning that he inflicted on the Warriors earlier in the season will still also be fresh on their minds, 71 off 34 at Providence and while the Royals still lost that game, Miller, it seems, has won form.

On the bowling end, the Royals have their own spin talisman in Maheesh Theekshana, his last performance at Providence proving a miserly 3-15 from 4 overs and with an economy rate of just over just over 3 runs while the rest were being blasted for 10+.
Night one featured lighting faults and night two was left up to the gods, fans will be hoping for a full game on night three as one team will have to march on to face the St Lucia Kings on Sunday.