-Hetmyer, Shepherd, bowlers lead the way
By Michaelangelo Jacobus
A night that seemed like it would end with the Guyana Amazon Warriors fans going home dejected, ended instead with great ecstasy and wild celebrations at the Providence National Stadium in Guyana as local boys Shimron Hetmyer, Romario Sheperd and Shamar Joseph produced the goods with bat and ball to steer the Guyanese franchise to a well-deserved 30-run victory over the St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the end.
Playing in their first home game of the 2024 season, the Warriors were sent in to bat and by the end of the first over, were 1/2 as the opening experiment by management backfired once again as Tim Robinson and allrounder Kevin Sinclair were both sent back to the pavilion by Patriots’ spinner Ashmeade Nedd, also a Guyanese. 1/2 became 28/3 in the third over as Shai Hope nicked one to Andre Fletcher off the bowling of Kyle Mayers.
However, Hetmyer continued his good run of form with the bat to keep things ticking along on a pitch that seemed tough to bat on at times. Moen Ali kept his company in an all-important 50-run fourth wicket partnership but struggled to get the ball away making a laboured 22-ball 10 before becoming Tabraiz Shamsi’s first victim. Hetmyer meanwhile looked as though he was batting on a different track and smashed four fours and five maximums during his 33-ball 63 to help Guyana along.
But, by the time Shamsi had him out LBW in the 12th over, the Amazon Warriors looked in danger of imploding as they slipped from 78/4 to 106/8 by the 18th over. It was only thanks to a couple of lusty blows from Romario Shepherd in the final two overs of the innings, that the Guyanese managed to post 137/8 from their allotted overs. Shepherd timed his assault well to end unbeaten on 34 from 22 balls and slashed a solitary four to go with his three sixes.
Nedd provided a stark reminder of his talent with an eye-catching haul of 4/25 from his four overs while Shamsi was miserly, returning 2/13 from his 4 over allotment.
For most, 137 at Providence looked too small of a target with the Patriots boasting big hitters the likes of Fletcher, Mayers and Evin Lewis, but in the end, it proved far too much as the Warriors bowling unit stood tall to take their side to victory.
Lewis and Fletcher were cruising along in the powerplay and when Motie bowled the fifth over of the innings, he managed to trap Fletcher LBW for 15, leaving the Patriots at 23/1.
However, Fletcher’s dismissal proved to be the opening the Guyanese were searching for and Moen Ali bowled Mikyle Louis in the eight over to start the unraveling process.
While Lewis at the other end was content to sit back and absorb pressure, his teammates at the other end found life tough and only Rilee Roussow (11) would get into double digits.
Even as Mayers holed out to long off with the score at 53 in the 10th over, the Patriots still had a fair chance of a successful run chase but that was thwarted by captain Imran Tahir and Berbice fast bowling sensation Shamar Joseph.
In fact Joseph sparked the beginning of the end when he ran out Roussow with a laser sharp throw off his own bowling and with the score at 91/5 (15th over) Tahir would enter the fray accounting for Joshua DaSilva (9) and Ashmeade Nedd (5). Meanwhile Joseph finished things in a flurry, snaring 3/9 from 2.2 overs getting rid of Dominic Drakes and Anrich Nortje to help his side to victory. Bowled out for 107 in 18.3 overs, the defeat solidified a top four finish for the Guyanese and effectively ended any playoff hopes for the Patriots.
Hetmyer for his well-played 63 was adjudged man of the match and will be looking to take that form over to tonight’s encounter against Antigua and Barbuda Falcons which is slated to begin at 7PM.
