Nicholas Pooran smashed the first hundred of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2020 and helped Guyana Amazon Warriors beat St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots by seven wickets, while St. Lucia Zouks set a new record for defending the lowest total ever, by winning despite making only 92 and then restricting Barbados Tridents to 89 for seven.

Pooran’s classy century, which came in just 45 balls was also the third fastest in the tournament’s history and the Warriors win came with seven wickets and 2.3 overs to spare while chasing a competitive target of 151 at the Queen’s Park Oval.

Warriors’ captain Chris Green won the toss and chose to field and he himself got a breakthrough off the sixth ball of the match dismissing Kieron Powell. After a tight second over from Kevin SInclair, Evin Lewis lashed out at Green for a four and a six in the third over. But he lost his wicket to Sinclair in the fourth over. Patriots reached 30 for two in five overs. Just before the halfway mark, Ben Dunk, who began to open up, left bowled by Green for 19. At the end of 10 overs Patriots were 51 for three.

Joshua Da Silva (59 in 46 balls), who escaped a stumping chance earlier, and Denesh Ramdin (37 not out in 30) put on 68 for the sixth wicket, which made the total healthy.

Da Silva attacked Keemo Paul for two sixes and later hit Naveen ul Haq for a couple of fours as the scoring galloped. Finally Romario Shepherd broke the stand, bowling the impressive Da Silva with an excellent Yorker with the total at 119 for four. With two overs left, Patriots were 126 for four.

Ramdin helped get 12 runs each of the last two overs and the 150-mark was reached with Ramdin heaving a six off the second last ball of the innings from Shepherd.

When Warriors went in, Brandon King opened with Kevin Sinclair. Then King left at 20, of which he contributed 14. Sinclair (5) and Shimron Hetmeyer (1) followed, leaving Warriors tense at 25 for three in the sixth over.

Pooran, who came at the fall of Sinclair, and saw Shimron Hetmeyer leave two deliveries later, took over. The score moved slowly to 59 for three at the halfway mark.

Two sixes and a four in the 11th over which cost Imran Khan 18 runs signalled the start of the attack from Pooran. Ross Taylor (25 in 27 balls) batting at the other end was content leaving things to Pooran who was in full flow. Pooran did not spare any bowler, hitting Jon-Russ Jaggesar, Alzarri Joseph and Ish Sodhi later on.

Warriors surged to 99/3 off 13 and the required rate had fallen to under 7.5 an over. Patriots’ skipper Rayad Emrit called Sohail Tanvir but Pooran launched him over his head for a six to bring up the first hundred partnership by any team in Hero CPL 2020. The Warriors needed 16 off the last 18 balls.

Pooran batting at 82 at the end of the 17th over, finished off things with three successive sixes to reach his hundred and also seal the win with 15 balls to spare.

Brief scores:

Guyana Amazon Warriors 153/3 (Pooran 100*, Taylor 25*, King 14; Jaggesar 2/33, Joseph 1/24) beat St Kitts & Nevis Patriots 150/5 (da Silva 59, Ramdin 37*, Dunk 19; Green 2/31, Sinclair 1/9, Shepherd 1/13) by 7 wickets

Player of the match : Nicholas Pooran (GAW).

Zouks defend a paltry 92 for a stunning win over Tridents

In a low-scoring match where the bowlers had the say, the St Lucia Zouks set a new record for the lowest total ever defended in Hero CPL. After making only 92 in 19 overs with only three batsmen reaching double figures, Kesrick Williams and the spinners, including Javelle Glen throttled the Barbados Tridents batting and restricted them to 89 for seven. Tridents must be disappointed at the loss despite not being bowled out.

When Zouks batted, there was no sizeable partnership. Leniko Boucher (18) and Roston Chase (14) and later ion Najibullah Zadran (22) were the only ones to get into double digits.

Hayden Walsh with three for 19 and Raymon Reifer with two for five in the only over he bowled were the main wicket-takers, though all others including Rashid Khan with one for 17 in four overs, were also excellent.

Chasing 93 for a win, Tridents started well with Shai Hope (14) and Johnson Charles (39 in 42) starting cautiously but solidly. Hope fell leg before to Kesrick Williams but the Tridents reached the Powerplay at a steady 34 for 1. Wickets fell and scoring was not easy, but when the 10th over ended, Tridents were 48 for 3 needing barely four an over.

Yet, the Tridents were too tense. Chase and Javelle Glen, bowling for the first time in senior T20 cricket, were tidy. Leg-spinner Glen got his first wicket when Charles sliced to long-on where Williams took a good catch.

As Tridents reached 67 for 4 off 14, Zahir, Nabi and Chase kept the bowling tight and did not give away much.

Even then Tridents were in with a chance till the final over. They had four wickets in hand and needed nine off the last over. Chase dismissed Nurse off the second ball and nine were needed off four. They managed only two twos and there was a bye in between and were left three short for a shocking loss.

Brief scores : St Lucia Zouks 92 all out (Najibullah 22, Boucher 18, Chase 14; Walsh Jr 3/19, Reifer 2/5, Nurse 1/15, Rashid 1/17, Bishop 1/17) beat Barbados Tridents 89/7 (Charles 39, Hope 14, Nurse 12, Anderson 11; Glen 2/11, Williams 2/12, Chase 1/14, Nabi 1/18, Zahir 1/21) beat by 3 runs

Player of the match: Javelle Glen (SLZ)

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