St Kitts & Nevis Patriots registered their second successive victory, defeating Guyana Amazon Warriors by eight wickets. Half-centuries from Evin Lewis and Devon Thomas helped them mow down a target of 147 runs with seven balls to spare.
Nicholas Pooran called the toss correctly and decided to bat, but Brandon King and Chanderpaul Hemraj struggled to get going. King’s innings came to an end in the third over, when his attempted flick fell into the safe hands of Sherfane Rutherford.
Odean Smith was promoted up the order, just like the last game. But it did not work out this time. He fell for a seven-ball duck. Shoaib Malik could not get hold of a shortish delivery from Dominic Drakes. Joshua Da Silva dived to his right to get underneath the ball.
Shimron Hetmyer was beaten through the gate by Dwayne Bravo, but Pooran smashed three sixes in his 10-ball 23 before holing out to Evin Lewis. Mohammad Hafeez then anchored the innings, making 38 off 31 to take the Warriors to 146/8 in 20 overs.
For the Patriots, Drakes bagged three wickets, Fawad Ahmed two, and Dwayne Bravo and Sheldon Cottrell one apiece.
The Warriors successfully had defended a similar total last time, but the key architect of that victory, Rovman Powell, was not in the playing XI.
But Lewis and Devon Thomas added 113 for the opening wicket to take the sting out of the contest. Lewis’ 62 came in 39 balls, with four fours and five sixes, three of them off Imran Tahir.
The moderate target and Lewis’ onslaught allowed Thomas (55 off 54) to take his time and complete fifty in the 19th over. He brought the winning boundary as the Patriots won their second game.
Brief scores: Guyana Amazon Warriors 146/8 in 20 overs (Hemraj 39; Drakes 3-26) lost to St Kitts and Nevis Patriots 147/2 in 18.5 overs (Lewis 62; Naveen 1-28) by 8 wickets with 7 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Devon Thomas