Tahir five-fer secures top spot for Amazon Warriors

Guyana Amazon Warriors returned to winning ways and assured themselves a spot at the top of the points table after beating Saint Lucia Kings in a low-scoring encounter in Guyana on Wednesday (September 9). Led by skipper Imran Tahir’s five-wicket haul, the Warriors kept the opposition down to just 119 before chasing the total down with four wickets to spare.

After opting to bat first, Kamil Pooran got the Kings off to a great start despite losing his opening partner Tim Seifert early. He struck five fours and two sixes in the Powerplay and in the company of John Campbell, took the Kings to 51 for 1 after six overs.

The game then flipped with the Kings losing seven wickets for just 19 runs. Mehidy Hasan Miraz struck right after the Powerplay, removing Campbell to end the 40-run partnership. Tahir then trapped Pooran and Chase LBW in the space of two overs before Mehidy dismissed Kemol Savory and Charith Asalanka in the 11th over. Things went from bad to worse with Tahir then bowling both McKenny Clarke and Matthew Forde in the following over. Finally, Tahir returned to pick up his fifth wicket by trapping Joshua Bishop LBW in the 14th.

It was thanks to Obus Pienaar’s 35 that the Kings’ innings retained some respectability. He shared a 38-run last-wicket stand with Maheesh Theekshana before holing out in the 19th over. Fittingly, it was Tahir taking the catch as the Kings were bundled out for 119.

In reply, the Warriors’ chase proved to be far from straightforward. They crawled to 23 for 1 at the end of the Powerplay having struck only two boundaries. After losing Mavendra Dindyal, Glenn Phillips and Shai Hope shared a rather slow 58-ball 53-run partnership. The Warriors then lost three wickets in three overs, giving the Kings a sniff of a comeback but Quentin Samspon shut the door on them, smashing five sixes in his unbeaten 11-ball 37 to take his team to victory.

Brief Scores: Saint Lucia Kings 119 all out in 18.5 overs (Kamil Pooran 43, Obus Pienaar 35; Imran Tahir 5-17, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 3-13) lost to Guyana Amazon Warriors 122/6 in 18.3 overs (Quentin Sampson 37*, Glenn Phillips 37; Roston Chase 3-34) by 4 wickets.