Buoyed by successive wins against the Jamaica Tallawahs and the St Lucia Kings, the Guyana Amazon Warriors cricket team will look to cement their spot in the last four of the Caribbean Premier League with a victory over arch-rival the Trinbago Knight Riders.
They will take on their nemesis tonight from 7pm at the Providence National Stadium knowing that their destiny, as it relates to a final four finish, is entirely in their hands.
They will be heartened by the fact that the team seems to be coming into its own evidenced by the defeats over the Tallawahs and the Kings despite players from both teams notching up centuries.
Additionally, they will have the advantage of home court or in this instance crowd support, which has been sort of a contributory factor.
The Amazon Warriors lie fifth on the point’s standings with seven points, the same as the Trinbago Knight Riders, who will be playing their final game tonight while the Warriors have a game in hand.
A win by the Warriors tonight will eliminate the St Kitts/Nevis Patriots who are on eight points and who have completed their quota of 10 matches and the Trinbago Knight Riders who will have ended their campaign on seven points.
The Barbados Royals lead the points’ standings with 16 points and a game in hand while the St Lucia Kings and the Jamaica Tallawahs are on eight points, and each team has a game in hand.
The Trinbago Knight Riders are a dangerous side with players such as Andre Russell, Nicholas Pooran, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Colin Munro, Akeal Hosein and Guyanese Kevin Sinclair in their lineup.
In their previous match they lost to the St Kitts/Nevis Patriots by seven runs
However, they have failed to take advantage of the Power play and have struggled to build partnerships although with Russell, Pollard, Pooran and Narine in their batting lineup they remain a dangerous side.
The bowling will be spearheaded by the experienced Ravi Rampaul along with spinners Narine and Hosein.
The Amazon Warriors campaign has blown cold and then hot which has left them needing to win tonight’s game to reach the last four.
Like in the previous game they will look to openers Rahmunullah Gurbaz and Chandrapaul Hemraj to get them off to a good start which the ever dependable Shai Hope and the rest of the middle order including the skipper Shimron Hetmyer can build upon.
For good measure there is the sixes hitting abilities of Odean Smith and Romario Shepherd while Heinrich Klaasen has shown himself to be more than capable with the bat.
The Trinibago Knight Riders defeated the Amazon Warriors by 26 runs when the two teams played earlier this month and the Warriors should need no more incentive to win this one and avenge that defeat.
