Warriors, Knight Riders maintain winning run

Simmons powered TKR to their third consecutive win © Getty

Lendl Simmons and Dinesh Ramdin stroked fifties to help Trinbago Knight Riders overcome a 168-run target comfortably, with seven wickets in hand, and stretch their winning run in the ongoing season of CPL to three in three games. 

Earlier in the day, St Lucia Zouks got off to a healthy start after being put in to bat. Rakheem Conrwall's destructive powers as a pinch-hitter came to the fore as he smashed a 12-ball 33 to help his side gain some early momentum. Zouks built some steady partnerships from thereon but struggled to push the scoring rate higher. Andre Fletcher (26), John Campbell (43) and Najibullah Zadran (26) - all played a useful part but could never take the game away from the opposition. Sunil Narine bowled a tight spell while James Neesham snared a brace as Zouks were kept to 167 for 5. 

Trinbago had little trouble in the chase despite two early wickets. Simmons was off the blocks quickly with a second-ball six, and despite losing Sunil Narine and Tion Webster in the powerplay, he had helped his team pick up 52 runs from the first six overs. 

Along with Ramdin, he not only steadied the innings but also powered it at a scoring rate of almost 10 and over before getting stumped off Kavem Hodge in the 12th over, for a 39-ball 63. Kieron Pollard then joined Ramdin for another half-century stand. The duo wiped off the required 62 runs off only 39 balls to help their side to a win with 2.1 overs to spare. 

Brief Scores:St Lucia Zouks 167/5 in 20 overs (John Campbell 43, Rakheem Cornwall 33; James Neesham 2-33) lost to Trinbago Knight Riders 168/3 in 17.5 overs (Lendl Simmons 63, Dinesh Ramdin 50*; Kavem Hodge 1-30) by 7 wickets

Led by half-centuries from Chandrapaul Hemraj and Nicholas Pooran, Guyana Amazon Warriors beat Barbados Tridents by 47 runs and registered their third win on the bounce, to keep pace with Trinbago Knight Riders as the early dominators of CPL 2019. 

Put into bat, Hemraj controlled Warriors' innings right from the start, even as his partners failed to make worthy contributions. By the end of the 10th over, the hosts were reduced to 63 for 3, with Brandon King, Shoaib Malik and Shimron Hetmyer contributing only 14. A useful 49-run stand followed with Pooran, en route which Hemraj also brought up his fifty, but it was the last five overs of the innings that really turned up the pace for them. Pooran (30-ball 61) and Sherfane Rutherford (14-ball 32*) combined to add 78 runs in the last 29 balls to power Warriors to 180 for 4. 

Tridents never looked a part in the chase, from the first ball when Hemraj cleaned up Alex Hales for a duck. Sevaral wickets followed in quick succession, and mid way through their innings, they had lost six. Shoaib Malik and Keemo Paul chipped in with a wicket each, while Shadab Khan snared two. 

Ashley Nurse put on a bit of a fight with a 25-ball 40, which included three boundaries and three sixes. However, Romario Shepherd's four-fer wrapped up the lower order quickly and Tridents were bundled out by the 17th over, for 133. 

Brief Scores: Guyana Amazon Warriors 180/4 in 20 overs (Chandrapaul Hemraj 63, Nicholas Pooran 61*; Roshon Primus 2-35, Jason Holder 1-31) beat Barbados Tridents 133 in 16.4 overs (Ashley Nurse 40, JP Duminy 20; Romario Shepherd 4-13, Shadab Khan 2-39) by 47 runs.