Hetmyer, Shepherd and bowlers deliver stunning win for Guyana

Guyana Amazon Warriors started their home leg of CPL 2024 in style with a sensational 30-run win over St Kitts and Nevis Patriots at the Providence Stadium on Friday. Put into bat, the home side could only muster an under-par total of 137 which in itself came thanks to invaluable knocks from Shimron Hetmyer (63 off 33) and Romario Shepherd (34* off 22). However, the chase never took off for Patriots as only three of their batters got to double digits with Evin Lewis (49 off 46) being the lone ranger in the innings.

On a typical Guyana surface that assisted spin considerably, Warriors' innings got off to the worst possible start as Ashmead Nedd (4-25) dismissed openers Tim Robinson and Kevin Sinclair for ducks. Kyle Mayers then got the big breakthrough of Shai Hope for just seven as the home side found the going tough. Amidst the mayhem, Hetmyer found his range from the get-go and seemed to be batting on a different surface as he put the Patriots bowlers to the sword. The southpaw was in marauding form until Tabraiz Shamsi trapped him LBW. At the time of his dismissal, the team total was only 83 with Hetmyer having scored 63 off those. The innings then floundered a bit before Shepherd produced a priceless cameo for the second game running.

The target of 138 was below-par even with the tricky nature of the surface as there was a hint of dew setting in. Warriors' bowlers, however, took the fight to the opposition and delivered an exceptional powerplay that saw just 27 runs scored. Moeen Ali (2-9) was outstanding in the first half of the chase, getting the ball to grip and turn appreciably. Lewis played his shots but found little support as wickets fell around him. Eventually, the pressure of the asking rate got to him and once he fell to Dwaine Pretorius, young Shamar Joseph (3-9) mopped up the tail to complete a fantastic win for the Warriors.

Brief scores: Guyana Amazon Warriors 137-8 in 20 overs (Shimron Hetmyer 63, Romario Shepherd 34*; Ashmead Nedd 4-25) beat St Kitts and Nevis Patriots 107 in 18.3 overs (Evin Lewis 49; Shamar Joseph 3-9, Moeen Ali 2-9) by 30 runs.