Guyana Amazon Warriors are heading to their third straight Caribbean Premier League final after a thrilling win over St Lucia Kings in Qualifier 1 at Providence Stadium. Left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie stole the show with a match-winning 4-wicket spell, triggering a stunning collapse that ended the defending champions’ chase of 158. This CPL 2024 victory sets up an exciting title clash on Sunday.
Warriors batted first and hit a rough patch, slipping to 116 for 6 in the 16th over. But the lower order fired up! Romario Shepherd smashed 21 off just 8 balls, and Dwaine Pretorius added 17 off 8, pushing the score to 157 in 19.5 overs. They grabbed 41 runs in the last four overs alone. Shai Hope played a steady knock of 32 off 29 balls to hold things together, especially after Moeen Ali’s early exit exposed the middle order.
St Lucia Kings started their reply strong but crumbled fast. Pretorius grabbed two quick wickets—Tim Seifert and Ackeem Auguste—while Shepherd sent back Johnson Charles. In no time, Kings were 3 for 3 after three overs, way behind Warriors’ powerplay score of 45 for 1.
Then Motie turned the game on its head. He bowled Roston Chase with a clever delivery as he tried a big heave. Tim David fell for a golden duck on his first ball, and Aaron Jones got cleaned up by Imran Tahir. When skipper David Wiese holed out in Motie’s second over, Kings were in deep trouble at 48 for 7.
Kings fought back late, though. Khary Pierre, who had earlier kept Warriors in check with a tight 1 for 15 in the powerplay, delivered a stunning performance. He smashed his first T20 half-century, reaching 50 off 28 balls, with Tymal Mills chipping in 30. Mills even hammered 13 off Shepherd’s last over, keeping the chase alive until the end.
But Pierre’s wicket at 85 for 8 killed their hopes. Despite Mills’ gritty effort, Kings finished at 143 all out in 19.1 overs, falling 14 runs short. Now, they face Trinbago Knight Riders in Qualifier 2 to stay in the CPL title race.
Brief scores: Guyana Amazon Warriors 157 all out in 19.5 overs (Ben McDermott 34, Shai Hope 32; Tabraiz Shamsi 3/33, David Wiese 2/14) beat St Lucia Kings 143 all out in 19.1 overs (Khary Pierre 50, Tymal Mills 30; Gudakesh Motie 4/30, Imran Tahir 2/22) by 14 runs.
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