A brutal fifth – wicket partnership of 62 runs from 21 balls between Guyanese duo, Shimron Hetmyer and Sherfane Rutherford, stunned the Trinbago Knight Riders and gave the Amazon Warriors a thrilling six-wicket win at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence Sunday night.
Warriors, hunting 155 for victory, stuck to the task and raced to 42-1 after the first six overs with Cameron Delport and Hetmyer taking charge after the demise of Luke Ronchi (1).
Delport kept the wheels turning and the fans jumping by launching a delivery from Dwayne Bravo for a maximum before Cooper’s spectacular return catch dismissed him for 37, an innings which included four fours and two maximus.
He fell in the eighth over with the score 61 – 2. Hetmyer then took the innings on his shoulders, swatting Cooper for 19 runs from the 10th over to carry Warriors to 86-2 at the halfway mark.
He lost Jason Mohammed (5), soon after but Sherfane Rutherford strolled the wicket and smacked Nikita Miller for three maximums, including a reverse sweep into the grass mound to carry Warriors to 107 – 3 at the end of the 11th over.
It was Hetmyer’s turn to rock the stands and he smashed Anderson Phillip for two maximums, one to register his 50 as the young Guyanese pair took the hosts closer to victory at 124 – 3 after 12 overs by taking 57 runs from the last three overs.
Sixes continue to rain as Rutherford dispatched Bravo for 21 runs from the 13th over to carry Warriors to 146 – 3. He moved to 40 from a mere 11 deliveries.
Hetmyer, however, fell for 59, a knock which was decorated with three fours and five sixes.
Rutherford, thereafter, ended the game – 158 – 4 in 14.1, easing a delivery from Bravo through mid-on for four to end unbeaten on 45 from 13 deliveries, with six maximums.
Earlier, Warriors, after winning the toss, inserted the visitors and managed to hush the dangerous Knight Riders batting lineup, limiting them to 23-2 after the first five overs.
Skipper, Chirs Green was back to his usual economical self and, along with Sohail Tanvir, had a wicket apiece, removing Colin Ingram (4) and the inform Colin Munroe (6), respectively.
Trinbago Knight Riders slipped to further trouble when a spark of brilliance from Delport found Brendon Mc Cullum (9) short of his ground, trying to pinch a single.
His demise via the run-out route left his side on 23 – at the end of the first power play.
Denesh Ramdin and Darren Bravo were now tasked with rebuilding the innings and 
that they did with Ramdin quickly getting into his stride by carving Tanvir for three boundaries to keep the innings flowing. The game was tilted Guyana’s way after 10 overs with Knight Riders sitting on 57-3; Ramdin reached 24, while Bravo moved to eight, after Guyana’s spinners did a good holding job in the middle overs.
Ramdin began to tee off when he swatted a maximum. Bravo, on 10, attempted the same and was dropped on the midwicket boundary in the 12th over with the score on 70 – 3.
The duo, however, were separated when Ramdin (32) tried a cheeky scoop and was caught on the mid-wicket boundary off of Emrit to leave the score on 77-4 at the end of the 12th over. His demise brought Dwayne Bravo to the crease and he immediately flexed his muscles and smashed Bishoo over long on for a maximum.
The younger Bravo also got into the act and swatted two more maximums as the brothers took the score to 108 – 4 at end of the 15th over.
Dwayne Bravo, however was bowled by Emrit for 14, which brought Kevon Cooper to crease.
Cooper smoked 30 from 14 deliveries, a knock which included three fours and the same amount of maximums as Knight Riders ended on 154 – 7.
Bravo, who didn’t receive much of the strike in the latter overs, ended unbeaten on 42 while Tanvir (2-36) and Emrit (2-25) ended as pick of the bowlers.
The two sides will now meet today at the same venue in the first playoff after finishing top of the points table.
