The Guyana Amazon Warriors won their first Caribbean Premier League (CPL) title
with an impressive victory over the Trinbago Knight Riders at a historic event. The victory came after the Warriors had lost five consecutive CPL finals. Imran Tahir, a senior cricketer who played a vital role in this victory, was moved to tears by the emotional path to victory.
Match Highlights
The Amazon Warriors put up a stunning display, bowling out the formidable Trinbago Knight Riders for 94 runs in front of an excited home crowd at Providence. Pretorius bowled Mark Deyal for 16, Shepherd trapped Chadwick Walton lbw for 10, and Pretorius had Nicholas Pooran skying one to mid-off the very next ball after wicketkeeper Azam Khan had dropped Pooran.
Knight Riders had barely recovered from 35 for 3 when their new batters, Kieron Pollard and Akeal Hosein, holed out in the same over off Motie while going for questionable big shots. Pollard found deep midwicket for a duck before Hosein miscued to long-off where Shimron Hetmyer took an excellent running catch.
Keacy Carty and Andre Russell had started to stem the slide with a few singles against Tahir and Motie, but they had not even reached the halfway stage when Tahir followed two googlies with a legbreak and had Russell miscue to mid-on for 3.There was no coming back from 49 for 6. Carty did his bit with a few big hits, but Tahir trapped Dwayne Bravo for 8 off 18 before Pretorius returned for a two-wicket over, and Ronsford Beaton finished the innings with Carty’s wicket in the 19th over. It was Knight Riders’ second-lowest total in a 20-over game.
Amazon Warriors were in no rush at the start of their chase, especially after Keemo Paul fell for a run-a-ball 11 in the third over. Hope and Ayub saw off the next three overs of spin from Sunil Narine and Hosein with just one four to reach their lowest powerplay score of the season: 29 for 1.But the season’s top-two run-getters changed gears after that, especially Ayub, who targeted the straight boundary for four of his five sixes.
The first two came in Waqar Salamkheil’s first over as soon as the powerplay ended, the third came in his next over deep midwicket, and when Amazon Warriors needed just 12 to win, Ayub blasted two more over Ali Khan’s head in the same over.
That completed his half-century too, and even as the party took off, Ayub stood at the crease with his helmet in his left hand, the bat in his right, arms spread wide, a hint of a smile on his face, till he was lifted off his feet by his jubilant team-mates.Apart from having Hope and Ayub at the top of the batting chart, Pretorius and Tahir finished as the top-two wicket-takers with 20 and 18 wickets respectively, and Hope was also named the Player of the Tournament.
Saim Ayub Heroics
Saim Ayub of Pakistan was instrumental in the victory, hitting a half-century to help Guyana Amazon Warriors to their first CPL title. Ayub’s strong effort saw him score 52 runs off 41 balls, including two fours and five sixes, while Shai Hope added 32 runs off the same number of balls.
Saim Ayub had an outstanding showing in the CPL, scoring 478 runs across 13 matches, including four half-centuries, while maintaining a strong average of 43.45 and a fearsome strike rate of 142.26.Guyana Amazon Warriors have engraved their place in CPL history with this stunning victory, demonstrating that endurance and commitment can lead to ultimate success in the world of cricket.
Read more About Saim Ayub Â
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