Latest update April 18th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jul 22, 2015 Sports
By Sean Devers
The Guyana Amazon Warriors romped to an emphatic seven-wicket trashing over the Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel last night at the Providence Stadium in the final preliminary round match of the 2015 Hero CPL T20 cricket tournament to advance to Saturday’s second semi-final in Trinidad.
The Warriors jumped to 11 points, the same as the Red Steel but finished second due to their superior net run rate and will play the winner of the tomorrow’s semi final between Jamaica Tallawahs.
Lindl Simmons sparkled with an entertaining unbeaten 65 from 55 balls with five fours and three sixes and added 52 with Brad Hodge who made 33 from 25 balls with two fours and two sixes as the Warriors, replying to the 117-8, reached 118-3 with 18 balls to spare despite 44 from 30 balls by left-hander Cameron Delport.
Fast bowler Merchant DeLange bowled four impressive overs and took 4-24. The South African got excellent support from Devendra Bishoo (2-18) while Veerasammy Permaul (0-20) and Sunil Narine (1-17) again bowled economical four-over spells.
Set 118 to win at less than a run-a-ball, Simmons made full use of an easy chance when he was
put down by Dwayne Bravo off Deron Davis on five and inflicted a sound trashing on the Franchise from his home land.
Assad Fudadin was the silent partner as the right-handed West Indies opener launched his brutal attack on the Red Steel bowlers from the first ball he faced from Samuel Badree which he swept for four.
He then shattered the glass in the Media Centre with murderous straight six and deposited Davis for an exquisite square driven four which reached the boundary like a bullet before dumping the left-arm spinner for a mighty six.
Fudadin caressed Bravo for an orgasmic cover driven boundary while Simmons clobbered Bravo for an effortless six and the 50 partnership was posted in the 7th over with Fudadin’s contribution being eight.
Fudadin was the perfect foil for the ‘on-fire’ Simmons, who seemed lucky to be given not out
by the TV Umpire Shivsankar, who deemed the caught and bowled by Johan Botha a ‘bump ball’. But Fudadin (9 from 18 balls) tried an ill advised pull off Bravo and hit the ball straight to short mid-wicket as the Warriors lost their first wicket at 54 in the 9th over.
It was soon 62-2 in the next over when Denish Ramdin (5) was stumped off a leg side wide from Botha as the West Indies Captain was left stranded down the track. The 30 year-old Simmons rocked back and pulled Davis pugnaciously to the ropes as the ‘Trini’ with eight Tests to his name, galloped to his third fifty in this year’s CPL.
Hodge, back to his familiar number four position, spanked Botha for an on-side boundary and repeated the dose when Sulieman Benn was introduced. Hodge, the leading run scorer for the Warriors, deposited Kevon Cooper for consecutive sixes and the fans were ecstatic.
But with four runs to win Hodge was bowled by Bravo for a 25-ball 33 with two fours and two sixes. Umar Akmal joined Simmons, who finished the contest with a single to mid-wicket as the cameras flashed and the 15,000 fans in the stands danced to pulsating music from the Hits & Jams DJs.
Earlier, the Red Steel, who included all four of their spinners, won the toss and opted to bat first on a track with a lot more bounce than those prepared for the previous days and Delport spoiled Permaul’s tidy first over with a back cut for four while DeLange found Jacques Kallis’ (3) edge in the second over at 7-1.
Jevon Searles was beaten by a couple of big turning deliveries as he prodded forward before the Bajan swept Permaul for four on the fast outfield to release the early pressure. Delport leaned onto the front foot and sweetly caressed De Lange gloriously for four through cover but the pacer struck in successive overs when Searles (6) top edged a pull to point in the 4th over with the score on 19-2 much to delight of another raucous crowd which created a sea of yellow, producing a Carnival like atmosphere.
Delport top-edged a quick short ball over the keeper for four and then hammered Narine dismissively to the cover boundary before on-driving David Weise for four and late cutting him to third man for a second boundary in the over; the 50 was posted in the 7th over.
Darren Bravo (3) never got behind a lively short ball from DeLange and edged to Ramdin in the 9th over to leave the score on 55-3. Delport dumped Hodge for six over mid-wicket but next ball smashed the off-spinner to Simmons at short cover and was brilliantly taken as the Red Steel slipped to 64-4 in the 10th over.
Botha reversed swept Permaul, who extracted bounce and turn from the surface, for a boundary in the 11th over before Narine struck when he had Dwayne Bravo (5) LBW at 80-5 in the 14th over.
Botha and Kamran Akmal (10) tried to stage a recovery before Akmal attempted a big shot to Bsishoo and skied it for Permaul to claim the offering and leave the score 97-6 in the 17th.
Botha took 33 balls to make 22 before being bowled by one that kept low from Bishoo off the last ball of the penultimate over to leave the Red Steel 111-7 and Cooper was removed by the impressive DeLange in the last over as the Red Steel only managed 30 runs from their final five overs.
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