Sunday’s second match in the ExxonMobil Guyana Global Super League (GSL) saw English outfit Hampshire Hawks take on home favourites Guyana Amazon Warriors with both sides having won and lost a match so far in the tournament.
Some remarkable hitting from Warriors at the last saw the home side boss the end of a tricky run chase and run out eventual winners by four wickets with 10 balls remaining in front of an appreciative crowd in Providence.
The match had been a tussle and remained very much in the balance up until the 18th over of Warriors’ chase, with Gudakesh Motie falling for 16 the Warriors were left with 24 runs to get off the final 18 balls.
Hawks skipper Chris Wood stepped up for his side but six balls later the match was all but over, Hassan Khan pummelling him for six over the ropes before Romario Shepherd closed out the over with consecutive boundaries.
With just five runs then needed for a crucial win, Hassan hit Benny Howell for another boundary four and then collected the single needed to secure victory for his side.
The win sees the home side keep their tournament hopes alive as they go to four points and second in the standings with one further match against bottom-of-the-table Rangpur Riders to come in the group stages as the inaugural GSL heads towards the business end matches.
Warriors captain Imran Tahir enjoyed a fruitful evening, after winning the toss and choosing to field first he put in a Player-of-the-Match performance with his impressive command of spin bowling, using all his flight, guile and experience to pick up 3-18 from his four overs.
Tahir had Shan Masood stumped when the Pakistani ace was motoring along on 79 runs from 53 balls and then kept the pressure on the Hawks by pocketing both Howell and the dangerous Liam Dawson in quick succession.
Hampshire eventually made 146-6 off their 20 overs, but the total proved a few short against a confident Warriors batting card that saw decent contributions from the middle order engine room of Shimron Hetmyer, Roston Chase and the impressive Hassan Khan seeing them home in style.
Hawks now need to pick up points in their final fixture against top-of-the-table Victoria in order to reach the latter stages of the tournament. (GSL)
