CPL 2020: Shimron Hetmyer cuts loose after Keemo Paul bags four wickets in Warriors win

Guyana Amazon Warriors 131 for 7 (Hetmyer 71, Emrit 3-31) beat St Kitts and Nevis Patriots 127 for 8 (Paul 4-19) by three wickets

Keemo Paul‘s four-wicket haul paired with another Shimron Hetmyer half-century ensured a facile three-wicket win for the Guyana Amazon Warriors over the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots at Brian Lara Academy in Tarouba.

Paul reaped the rewards of a sterling team bowling display from the Warriors, who conceded just two boundaries off the final seven overs of the first innings as the Patriots could not find an answer for the steady diet of slower bouncers cooked up by Chris Green’s medium-pace unit. The low total of 127 for 8 reinforced the pre-match talking point of the Patriots decision to drop Joshua Da Silva after he top-scored with 41 not out at No. 3 on debut in their failed chase against the Barbados Tridents.

Hetmyer arrived in the third over of the Warriors reply and peppered the leg-side boundary with the majority of his eight fours and three sixes, bringing up his fifty off 31 balls. With eight needed to win, the Warriors suffered a trio of hiccups that made the final margin far more flattering to the Patriots than it should have been. But Dominic Drakes bowled a wide and a no-ball on consecutive deliveries to calm any nerves before Romario Shepherd spanked the free hit through mid-on for a boundary to clinch the match with 18 balls to spare.

Spinners take a bite out of Patriots top order

After an expensive display against the Trinbago Knight Riders a day earlier, Imran Tahir was on the money early for the Warriors. He struck with his first ball, teasing Chris Lynn into a skied slog to Green at mid-off at the start of the fourth over. Green got into the act with the ball two overs later, mixing up his pace to catch Evin Lewis off guard by spearing in a wider delivery to negate a shuffle down the pitch as Nicholas Pooran completed an athletic stumping, making it 53 for 2 with two balls left in the Powerplay.

Paul unmasks the short ball

Paul, the medium pace allrounder, helped to further shift momentum into the Warriors’ favour starting with his first wicket in the seventh over. CPL debutant Nick Kelly, who replaced Da Silva in the Patriots line-up, couldn’t handle a short ball from Paul and sliced a cut to Hetmyer at backward point. Another short delivery going down the leg side resulted in a feathered edge for Nicholas Pooran to claim off the bat of Denesh Ramdin.

Following another scalp by Tahir – trapping Jahmar Hamilton on the crease with a googly – Paul mixed up his pace with a slower bouncer followed by a fuller pace one to result in a spooned pull to mid-on by Rayad Emrit. Paul then showed his speed in the field by charging in from deep midwicket to deny Ben Dunk a second run with a relay to Pooran for a run out. He rounded off his day in the field claiming Drakes with a short ball yanked flat to Shepherd at deep square leg. During his flurry of wickets, Paul made sure to pull a black protective mask out of his pocket to wrap around his mouth and ears, practicing his “social distancing” celebration.

Hetmyer’s leg-side demolition

The 23-year-old has an alternative interpretation of playing in the V. For Hetmyer, it means spraying everything within arms reach between midwicket and mid-on. Regardless of where the Patriots bowled, Hetmyer was determined to drag everything he could to the leg side, and to great effect.

Hetmyer got his eye in against Emrit in the fifth over, tonking him for a six bookended by two fours over the leg side to bring the required run rate under a run-a-ball before the end of the Powerplay. A six driven over long-on against Ish Sodhi’s legspin brought up his half-century. A wet ball was changed by the umpires with one ball to go in the 15th over, but it had little impact on Hetmyer who promptly dispatched the first delivery with it bowled by Sheldon Cottrell into the terrace over deep square leg.

His innings finally concluded when he tried to clear long-on for a match-ending six but his toe-end shot couldn’t beat Dunk on the rope to give Drakes a wicket. Warriors made it across the line nonetheless four legal deliveries later.