Guyana Amazon Warriors 196 for 4 (Charles 67, Gurbaz 66, Shepherd 28*, Iftikhar 1-12) beat Rangpur Riders 164 (Iftikhar 46, Saif 41, Mahidul 30, Pretorius 3-37, Motie 2-32, Tahir 2-39) by 32 runs
A batting show headlined by three innings that were very different from one another, and a combined bowling effort where all the key men contributed something of note took Guyana Amazon Warriors, the hosts, to the Global Super League title in Providence on Friday night. They vanquished Rangpur Riders, who had won the title in its inaugural season, and a target of 197 might have seemed achievable, but not after a powerplay of 32 for 3.
It started with the run-out of Ibrahim Zadran in the second over, followed by Dwaine Pretorius picking up the first of his three wickets - Soumya Sarkar - in the fifth, and Moeen Ali chipping in with the big wicket of Kyle Mayers in the sixth.
The fightback came courtesy Saif Hassan and Iftikhar Ahmed, who put together 73 runs for the fourth wicket in 44 balls, but another run-out, this time of Saif, triggered another slide. This time, they went from 102 for 3 to 126 for 8 between the 13th and the 17th overs, and there was no coming back from there.
Masterminding the dominance were Pretorius, with the wickets of Azmatullah Omarzai and Iftikhar, who top-scored with 46 from 29 balls, and Imran Tahir, who sent back Nurul Hasan and Khaled Ahmed.
Unbelievable striking!
— Global Super League (@gslt20) July 19, 2025
Romario Shepherd with the finishing touch! #GSLT20 #GlobalSuperLeague #RRvGAW #BetCabana pic.twitter.com/HbnUzxeE93
Mahidul Islam Ankon threw his bat around to score a 17-ball 30, but it was too little and too late to prevent Amazon Warriors from taking the title.
For Amazon Warriors, Gudakesh Motie also picked up two wickets and the only frontline bowler who didn't get a wicket, Akeal Hosein, conceded just 24 runs from his four overs.
Earlier, after Amazon Warriors had opted to bat, a partnership of 121 runs in 70 balls between opener Johnson Charles and No. 3 Rahmanullah Gurbaz set them on their way. The two got together in the fourth over after Evin Lewis had been felled by Khaled, and batted through to the end of the 15th before Charles retired out on 67 from 48, with 11 fours and a six.
Gurbaz fell almost immediately after for a 38-ball 66, studded with six fours and four sixes, and the finishing kick came from Romario Shepherd, who slammed three sixes and a four in scoring 28 not out from nine balls.
