Guyana Amazon Warriors 209 for 7 (Hetmyer 100, Malik 50) beat Jamaica Tallawahs 138 (Phillips 43, Taylor 30, Green 2-19) by 71 runs
Shimron Hetmyer became the youngest centurion in CPL history, and the first to do it on American soil, as Guyana Amazon Warriors rallied to victory by 71 runs to hand Jamaica Tallawahs their first loss of CPL 2018.
On paper, the game was listed as a home match for the Tallawahs, but Lauderhill has provided anything but a home-field advantage for Andre Russell's team, who had just one win in four matches coming into the venue on Saturday night. A heavily partisan Amazon Warriors crowd of about 4,000 provided a hostile reception to the Tallawahs and fueled the visitors to 209 for 7, the highest CPL total made at the venue, eclipsing the 206 made by St Lucia Zouks against the Tallawahs in the very first CPL match played in Lauderhill in 2016.
Hetmyer floors the hosts
When the Amazon Warriors last visited Lauderhill a little over a year ago, Hetmyer sat on the bench during two defeats to St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, in matches where the Warriors were only able to muster totals of 123 and 128. The 21-year old Hetmyer nearly outdid that singlehandedly on Saturday night in front of a raucous crowd.
Hetmyer came to the crease in the second over, after Chadwick Walton had been adjudged lbw to Samuel Badree, and wasted little time in getting his eye in under the Lauderhill lights. The closest shave he had was on his first boundary of the night, in the third over off Imad Wasim, as a slightly aerial drive eluded the fielder in the covers before heading to the rope. The next ball took a less adventurous path through the covers for another four, and Hetmyer was on his way as he struck 11 fours and five sixes in all.
Perhaps his most elegant shot of the night came in the ninth over when he drove clean through the line to power Oshane Thomas back over his head for six. When he brought up his century in 47 balls, with a single off the final delivery of the 14th over, the third-wicket stand with Shoaib Malik stood at 108, and Amazon Warriors were 162 for 2. A total of 240 seemed realistic, as did Hetmyer's chances of blazing past Andre Russell's CPL record score of 121 not out. But Hetmyer fell two balls later, and Tallawahs somewhat wrested back momentum in the final phase of the innings, conceding just 47 off the final six overs to give themselves a chance.
Phill 'er up
Tallawahs actually had a better Powerplay than Amazon Warriors, reaching 69 for 1 after six, compared to the visitors' 60 for 2. Much of that was down to the hot start provided by Glenn Phillips. After Kennar Lewis fell to conclude a 16-run opening over of the chase, Phillips ran roughshod over Devendra Bishoo and Rayad Emrit later in the Powerplay, striking both bowlers for a six and four each in the fourth and sixth overs respectively. The six off Bishoo was especially mighty, sailing over the makeshift VIP tent constructed on the east side boundary.
Phillips added 66 with Ross Taylor for the second wicket, before sloppy running proved to be the first domino to fall, leading to the demolition of the Tallawahs chase. Phillips slammed Chris Green's offspin in the second ball of the eighth over through wide long-on for what seemed a certain four, but Keemo Paul hustled to slap the ball from bouncing over the rope into the hands of Hetmyer for a sharp relay back to the middle. Both batsmen were expecting it to go for four, and instead of a straightforward two, they settled for one. It put Taylor on strike for the next ball instead of keeping Phillips in flow, and the result was a gloved sweep that popped up to Ronchi behind the stumps for a simple catch.
Tallawoes
The innings began to unravel even faster after the mid-chase drinks break, even though Tallawahs were still very well-placed at 102 for 3. David Miller, playing his first match after joining Tallawahs following the end of South Africa's tour of Sri Lanka, bolted prematurely for a non-existent single. Phillips turned down the run, and Tahir fielding off his own bowling, darted across to the short extra cover region and whipped around to fire a direct hit with one stump to aim at from 10 yards out.
Phillips chopped a googly onto his foot, and the stumps, next ball to leave for 43. Only two more Tallawahs players crossed double-figures thereafter. Poor running resulted in two more runouts to put the finishing touches on the Guyana win. It was such a dominant display that Imran Tahir, one never to miss out on giving an over-the-top celebration at the fall of a wicket, calmly brushed off one bail and then immediately stuck it back onto the stumps after receiving a relay from Walton to run out Adam Zampa for the ninth wicket. The Tallawahs lost their last eight wickets for just 36 runs, bowled out in 16.2 overs.
