By Avenash Ramzan
Shimron Hetmyer lit up the Hero Caribbean Premier League on Wednesday evening, hitting his third half-century of the season to spur Guyana Amazon Warriors to a semi-final spot with a seven-wicket win over St. Lucia Zouks.
The left-hander cracked 56* off 36, an onslaught that included 24 runs off a Chemar Holder over, to lift Warriors to their third win on the trot, easily overhauling a target of 110 with 37 balls remaining.
The knock took Hetmyer to 235 runs, the second most in the tournament behind Jamaica Tallawahs opener Glenn Phillips’ 248.
But, it hasn’t been all smooth sailing for the 23-year-old West Indies middle-order batsman.
After opening the tournament with 63 not out against Trinbago Knight Riders and 71 against St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots, Hetmyer endured a slump in form, managing just 45 runs in the next six innings, including five single-digit scores.
Commenting on his form in the tournament, Hetmyer said: “It’s coming back. I thought I lost it a few games ago. I’m working on it and I’m trying to stay a little bit more focused on my game; how to start an innings, how to build and how to finish an innings as well.”
On the game plan, chasing a low total, the Warriors number three added, “(Vice-captain Nicholas) Pooran said for us to just go out and be positive and just express ourselves and play our natural game, and I think that really worked for us today.”
Warriors started with a loss to Knight Riders, before rebounding with consecutive wins. However, they had three defeats on the trot, before winning the last three games to book a final four spot.
“The guys are really and truly starting to work harder than before, and starting to believe in ourselves a little bit more each and every day and from here on out I think it is just us taking it one game at a time,” Hetmyer reckoned.
The Warriors play their final game of the preliminary round against a struggling defending champions Barbados Tridents this afternoon (September 3) from 17:30h at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.
