St Lucia Zouks beat Guyana Amazon Warriors by TWO RUNS!
The St Lucia Zouks won a classic in the 2015 Hero Caribbean Premier League against the Guyana Amazon Warriors to make it two wins out of two.
In a match that was delayed by rain twice and reduced to 18 overs per side, the Zouks triumphed by two runs, with Fidel Edwards - just - holding his nerve in the last over as the home crowd went wild at the Beausejour.
WOW!!! What a match!! Down to the Wire! ENTERTAINMENT!!! This is what CPL is all about! #CPL15
— ※S̶̲̥̅̊ãäbïřå Ãŀï※ (@DoOMGiRL23) June 27, 2015The Zouks were put into bat by Denesh Ramdin and the Warriors and they got off to a flier, Andre Fletcher and Johnson Charles continuing their excellent opening partnership with another wonderful stand of 77 as they flayed the pacemen to all parts of the ground.
But the Warriors spinners got them back into the game after Ronsford Beaten dismissed Fletcher for 36 off 22, with Sunil Narine (2-32) and Veerasammy Permaul (2-24) both bowling superb spells to bring the run rate down and chip away at the Zouks batting line-up.
Charles whacked 47 off 26 with 4 sixes before Narine did for him, while Ross Taylor (30* off 25 balls) and Darren Sammy (18 off 17) took the Zouks to a decent total of 156-6, though some way short of what they would have been expecting having been on 99 in the 10th over.
Guyana's openers similarly started in impressive fashion, but after crashing Fidel Edwards for three fours in one over, Tillakaratne Dilshan's stay at the crease was ended by a brutal Kemar Roach ball that struck him on the helmet and cut his face, the Sri Lankan needing some attention on the field before retiring hurt on 19 off 10 balls.
Roach was superb as he accounted for Lendl Simmons for 14, and Edwards bowled with real pace too, before Eddie Leie came on and struck twice in his first over, getting rid of Ramdin for a 10-ball 21 and Shiv Chanderpaul, who had struggled on to 7 off 17 balls.
Brad Hodge played a superb innings, the veteran Australian 45 not out off 30 balls as he and Christopher Barnwell (26 off 18) got the Warriors close, but the rate just got too high in the end, and despite Edwards bowling two wides in his final over, the Zouks sneaked over the line.
The celebrations in St Lucia will last long into the weekend!
