King heroics, spinners save GAW against St Lucia Kings

(Main Pic) Gudakesh Motie of Guyana Amazon Warriors celebrates the dismissal of Samit
Patel of Saint Lucia Kings during the 2021 Hero Caribbean Premier League match 22
between Guyana Amazon Warriors and Saint Lucia Kings at Warner Park Sporting
Complex on September 8, 2021 in Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis. (Photo by Randy
Brooks – CPL T20/Getty Images)

Guyana Amazon Warriors moved back into the top four of the 2021 Hero
Caribbean Premier League (CPL) table with a 17-run victory over the Saint Lucia
Kings.
The Amazon Warriors won the toss and elected to bat first, but they had to
overcome an early wobble to post a competitive total led by Brandon King’s
enterprising 77.
In reply, the Kings looked as if they were in cruise control when Roston Chase
and Tim David put together a big partnership but excellent ‘death’ bowling
tightened the screws and the Kings succumbed to the pressure.
Having been supplanted in the top four by Jamaica Tallawahs earlier in the day,
Guyana needed a win to reignite their competition. However, three early wickets
in the PowerPlay put them on the backfoot as Wahab Riaz and Jeavor Royal
made the early breakthroughs.
King came to the Amazon Warriors rescue with his first Hero CPL 50 of the
season, but other than Nicholas Pooran’s 25, no other batsman was able to stick
with King.
Once King fell for his sparkling 77, Odean Smith was able to add some
maximums to take Guyana to a challenging total of 151.
Saint Lucia Kings were circumspect in their early reply and found themselves
three wickets down with 43 runs on the board. Gudakesh Motie’s parsimonious
spin bowling saw him take 2/12 from his four overs to keep the Amazon Warriors
well in the hunt.
Roston Chase and Tim David put together a boundary-laden partnership of 75
from 63 balls but just as it seemed they would take the Kings home, Naveen Ul-
Haq and Odean Smith bowled four excellent overs to seal two crucial points for
the Amazon Warriors