A thrilling match between Rangpur Riders and Guyana Amazon Warriors provided plenty of excitement in the ExxonMobil Guyana Global Super League (GSL) with Riders pulling off a 15 run victory that saw them leapfrog Hampshire Hawks in the table.
Riders captain Nurul Hasan won the toss and elected to bat first, a decision that looked for all intents and purposes to have not worked out when his side were skittled for 117 runs.
A procession of Riders wickets fell from the get go, they found themselves 14/4 and 27/5 as their top order was blown away by the Warriors bowling outfit.
The Warriors shared the wickets around but Dwayne Pretorious was the pick of them, an impressive performance in Providence saw him take three wicekts and only concede 15 runs on a night when they were a particularly precious commodity.
If it wasn’t for a skilful and obdurate knock from Khushdil Shah then the Riders wouldn’t have posted three figures. As it happened, Shah made a crucial half century, patiently working the ball into the gaps, frustrating the Warriors bowlers before growing in stature to find the boundary and eke the Riders run rate upwards.
His 58 off 47 balls included two fours and four sixes with the next highest score coming from his captain, Hasan, who posted 15 off 26 to provide some solidity in the middle overs.
In response, Warriors found the going with the bat equally tough. Moeen Ali and Pretorious fell cheaply at the top of the order and once Shimron Hetmyer was scudded out for a first ball duck by Kamrul Islam Rabbi then the home side were in all sorts of trouble at 7/3 and then 27/5, a teetering score that the Riders had found themselves on an hour earlier.
Warriors couldn’t dig themselves out of the hole as effectively however, Shai Hope was dismissed by Rishad Hossain for 35 off 44 at the start of the 18th over and from there the Warriors were reliant on their bowlers to try and haul them over the line.
Romario Shepherd kept his side in the hunt by smearing Khushdil for six in the penultimate over to leave 16 runs needed off the final six balls albeit with no wickets in hand for the Warriors.
Shepherd couldn’t finish the job, falling off the first ball off the last over caught by Wayne Madsen off Kamrul Islam Rabbi as the Warriors were consigned to 102 all out and a second defeat of their GSL campaign.
They now face a nervous wait to see the results of Thursday’s double header and whether they have done enough to secure a slot in Friday’s inaugural GSL final. (GSLT20)
