Jamaica Tallawahs were well-served by their hitters, while spinner Keemo Paul and in-form batsman Shimron Hetmeyer did the star turn for Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Hero Caribbean Premier League on Wednesday.

Jamaica Tallawahs, who are missing Chris Gayle this year, beat St. Lucia Zouks by five wickets, while Warriors beat St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots by three wickets. It was the first win for both teams, but a second straight loss for Patriots. The winning teams in both matches chased down the targets with ample to spare.

The next set of matches will see Barbados Tridents meet Zouks, while Trinbago Knight Riders take on Jamaica Tallawahs and that will complete the first set of two matches each in the 2020 Hero CPL.

Match 3

Tallawahs won the toss and put the Zouks in. Aided by a fine fourth-wicket stand of 52 by Roston Chase (52) and Najibullah Zardan (25), Tallawahs seemed well-placed for a final assault as they were 125 for four with four overs left.

Tallawahs looked set for a fairly big total as Chase and Najibullah were looking aggressive. They picked 11 in the 17th over as Najib smashed a six and a four in the 17th over from fellow Afghan Mujeeb, but was then dismissed two deliveries later. Then in the 18th over, Chase smashed a six off the first ball of the 18th over, which fetched 10 runs off Andre Russell.

But Mujeeb got another breakthrough in the 19th over, dismissing Chase who was caught at point and the over yielded just four runs, though Chase had done his job with 52 that included four fours and two sixes, The final over from Russell was tight with only eight coming off it. Tallawahs had done well to restrict Zouks to 158 for seven.

Left-arm spinner Veerasammy Peermaul and Mujeeb claimed two wickets each, though the former also gave away 34 runs in three overs.

Chasing a challenging 159 for victory, Tallawahs were rocked by the loss of two early wickets by the fifth over, leaving them 13 for two.

The Tallawahs stuttered at the start as Walton skied Obed McCoy to Sammy at mid-off. The Zouks used a different bowler for each of the first four overs, and none of them went for even a single boundary.

Nicholas Kirton tried to hit but Mark Deyal pulled off a brilliant catch, leaping almost behind him to pluck it from the air and reduce the Tallawahs to 13/2 in the 5th over.

Kiwi Glenn Philipps (44), who made his Test debut earlier this year but played just one Test before Covid-19 broke out, and skipper Rovman Powell (26) repaired the damage with a 63-run third-wicket stand in just a little more than five overs.

Powell’s start with a four and a six off Scott Kuggeleijn indicated what was to come. Then Phillips lofted Zahir Khan or a four-and-six pair of his own and the tone was set. Powell and Phillips left in quick succession and Tallawahs were once 84 for four but had more than nine overs left.

Player of the match, Asif Ali (47 not out) with Andre Russell (16) and then Carlos Braithwaite (18 in nine balls) ensured there were no hiccups as Tallawahs coasted home with 1.1 overs and five wickets left to spare.

Asif Ali blasted his third ball for a six and then kept going all the way in his 47 not out. The 16th over saw 16 being plundered and then it was a matter of time.

Jamaica Tallawahs 160/5 (Asif Ali 47*, Phillips 44, Powell 26, Brathwaite 18*; Williams 2/32, Cornwall 1/9, McCoy 1/28, Nabi 0/13) beat St Lucia Zouks 158/7 (Chase 52, Najibullah 25, Fletcher 22, Deyal 17; Mujeeb 2/25, Permaul 2/34, Lamichhane 1/23, Russell 1/32) by 5 wickets

Player of the match: Asif Ali

Match 4

Keemo Paul spins a web and Hetmeyer smashes second fifty

Keemo Paul snared the first four-wicket haul of the tournament and Shimron Hetmeyer smashed 71 in 44 balls with three sixes and eight fours as Guyana Amazon Warriors logged their first win of the 2020 Hero CPL. They went unchanged from their first game, which they had lost on opening day.

Warriors won the toss and sent the Patriots to take the strike first. It was a shaky start though Evin Lewis (30) scored fast, including helping his team to 18 in Naveen ul Haq’s second over.

But the introduction of Imran Tahir helped as he dismissed Chris Lynn (16).

Then some smart bowling by Chris Green and great wicket-keeping from Nicholas Pooran saw Lewis stumped for 30 and Patriots ended powerplay at 54/2.

Joshua Da Silva’s exclusion seemed to hurt as his replacement Nick Kelly fell early to Keemo Paul when Shimron Hetmyer held a sharp chance. As Warriors bowled tightly not yielding any boundaries for 18 balls, Patriots were frustrated.

The pressure told, as first Denesh Ramdin was strangled down the leg-side off Paul and then Jahmar Hamilton fell to the googly from Tahir.

As Patriots reeled at 83 for 5, Ben Dunk (29) and Patriots captain Rayad Emrit (17) scored a few but boundaries were still hard to come by. The runs came slowly but wickets fell at regular intervals and Patriots ended their 20 overs for 127 for eight.

As the Warriors began their chase, last year’s prolific scorer Brandon King began with a straight drive and square cut. But Sheldon Cottrell broke through, dismissing King.

In came Hetmyer and he showed his class with a flurry of early boundaries, including a Hero Maximum that nearly took out the scoreboard. Warriors cruised to 54/1 at the end of the Powerplay. Hemraj was run out in the eighth over failing to beat a powerful throw from Dominic Drakes but the chase was well under control. Hetmyer was dropped by substitute Kieran Powell at cover, and Hetmyer celebrated with a straight hit for four the next ball.

A massive maximum shot over Ish Sodhi’s head brought up Hetmyer’s second fifty in two games and this one came in just 31 balls.

For Patriots Rayad Emrit tried a fightback with two wickets in two balls including Pooran for a first-ball duck. Hetmyer was dismissed with a great catch by Dunk off Drakes, but the job was done safely with three overs and three wickets still left.

Guyana Amazon Warriors 131/7 (Hetmyer 71, Hemraj 19, King 10, Rutherford 10; Emrit 3/31, Cottrell 1/24, Drakes 1/28) beat St Kitts & Nevis Patriots 127/8 (Lewis 30, Dunk 29, Emrit 17, Lynn 16; Paul 4/19, Tahir 2/18, Green 1/24) by 3 wickets

Player of the match: Keemo Paul

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