Earlier Saim Ayub knock and later Gudakesh Motie brilliant last over helped Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW) to get the win in a close contest. They defeated Barbados Royals (BR) by 3 runs.
It was a close match but Motie saved the match for his team as he saved 6 runs in the last over and took 2 wickets and gave only 2 runs.
Warriors qualified for the playoffs after winning this match. Lastly they won against Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) as they broke their winning streak by defeating them by 42 runs. Whereas Royals were defeated by TKR in their last match by 6 wickets by a stormy innings of Pooran.
Guyana scored 181/9 in 20 overs and in response Royals just missed the target by 3 runs and scored 178/8 in 20 overs.
After winning the toss Guyana opted to bat first.
Shai Hope (50 runs) and Saim Ayub (58 runs) continued their brilliant form from the last game. Both of them contributed 98 runs for the 2nd wicket together. Ayub hit 1 four and 6 sixes whereas Hope hit 1 four and 4 sixes in their innings. In the end Shimron Hetmyer (24 runs) and Keemo Paul (23 runs) took their team to a defending total. They scored 181 runs in 20 overs by losing 9 wickets.
Craigg Brathwaite took 4 wickets. Jason Holder and Obed McCoy took 2 wickets. Rahkeem Cornwall got 1 wicket.
Royals did not start well and lost both of their openers in just 39 runs. Laurie Evans (44 runs) and Rovman Powell (39 runs) showed some blasting innings from their side but they couldn’t take their team to the final stage. In the end Braithwaite (12 runs) and Greaves (16 runs) tried to put things into their side but unfortunately it got little late and they managed to score 178 runs in 20 overs by losing 8 wickets.
Motie though was expensive in his 3 overs but his 4th became the turning point of the match. He just conceded 2 runs and took 2 important wickets and won the match for his team by defending 6 runs. Dwaine Pretorious got 2 wickets. Romario Shepherd, Keemo Paul and Odean Smith took 1 wicket.
With this win Guyana is now at 11 points in 6 matches and secured the 2nd spot. They were the first team who qualified for the playoffs. Royals remain at 4th spot with 7 points in 9 matches.
Saim Ayub, GAW, Player of the Match
“Nothing special, I just always want to follow my process. Just keep calm, understand the conditions and give my 100 percent. It’s that kind of pitch that you have to get set first. Enjoying the Caribbean environment, people are so friendly. Want to hand over the award to Motie for his final over.”
Rovman Powell, BR Captain
“I think it was simple (last over). Once you get one of the first two or three balls, the game is yours. At the halfway stage I thought Guyana were 10-15 runs short. Just need to keep improving. They were brilliant. It’s the best they have bowled in the back end of the competition so far. They did extremely well today. He was a little bit closer than I thought. Ball got to him a little bit faster. I wanted to strike for the next over.”
Imran Tahir, GAW Captain
“Really pleased for him (for Motie). Going forward he will believe he can bowl anywhere. Ayub, glad to have him. He has been working very hard in the nets. I can only give advice and share the experience with them. Have to respect our culture and work hard. Team comes first than anything else. Have a lot of options, and am a lucky captain. We knew that if Rovman Powell was in, it was going to be dangerous for us.”