It proved to be just another day in the office for the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the first afternoon fixture of CPL 2026. Continuing their theme of tying the opposition down before chasing down a simple target, they brushed aside St Kitts and Nevis Patriots at the Providence Stadium for their sixth consecutive win, securing a playoff berth in the process. Mohammad Nabi and Romario Shepherd combined for seven wickets, before Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Shai Hope anchored a chase of 129.
The Patriots opted to bat first and started decently with Kyle Mayers and Johnson Charles putting on 34 for the opening wicket. But the scales tilted significantly in the back half of the Powerplay as Shepherd accounted for both openers on either side of Shamar Joseph dismissing Andre Fletcher. Nabi then got in on the act to remove Jason Holder, before accounting for Wanindu Hasaranga in the 11th over as the Patriots sunk to 64/5, with the lack of bounce on a slow surface making life challenging for the batters.
The revival came via a 45-run stand between Alick Athanaze and Dasun Shanaka, who picked up the odd four and six to take the Patriots past the 100-run mark. However, Shepherd returned to swing things the hosts’ way again as he dismissed Shanaka. Nabi soon backed it up with a double-strike that saw him finish with 4/17, before Dwaine Pretorius castled Ashmead Nedd with one that kept low. Watching it all from the other end was Athanaze, who soon brought up a half-century with a four and a six but fell to Joseph in the final over as the Patriots lost their last five wickets for 19 runs.
The Amazon Warriors started steadily before Gurbaz got to work, dominating Holder in a 26-run fourth over. He reeled a couple of fours off Naseem Shah too before being cleaned up by Hasaranga, by which time though the Afghan batter had effectively put the chase to bed. Such was the impact of his 25-ball 39 that even a considerable slowdown in the scoring rate never hampered the Amazon Warriors.
Despite batting at a sluggish tempo, Hope held up an end and while Dindyal and Shimron Hetmyer couldn’t score big, Nabi played his part with the bat with an unbeaten 25. The chase stretched halfway into the penultimate over, but Hope saw his team home with a boundary.
Brief Scores: St Kitts and Nevis Patriots 128 all out in 19.2 overs (Alick Athanaze 52; Mohammad Nabi 4-17, Romario Shepherd 3-16, Shamar Joseph 2-22) lost to Guyana Amazon Warriors 132/3 in 18.3 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 39, Shai Hope 38*, Mohammad Nabi 25*; Navin Bidaisee 2-20) by 7 wickets.
