GEORGETOWN – Captain Darren Sammy and veteran Misbah-ul-Haq shared a stroke-filled, unbeaten sixth-wicket partnership of 41 to steer the St Lucia Zouks to victory over the Guyana Amazon Warriors in their Limacol Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 match at the Providence Stadium on Sunday night.
Man Of The Match Misbah-ul-Haq hit 49 not out as the Zouks won by five wickets, scoring 129 for 5 off 19.3 overs in reply to the Warriors’ 126 for six off 20 overs.
The Zouks entered the final over needing 10 runs before ul-Haq sealed the victory, with three balls to spare, with two sixes off Mohammad Hafeez. Sammy was unbeaten on 21 from nine balls.
Chasing the modest total, the Zouks were always in striking distance, after solid contributions of 23 from opener Andre Fletcher and 24 from left-hander Devon Smith, but were checked by the accurate bowling of spinners Veerasammy Permaul and Sunil Narine.
Earlier, the Warriors were given a good start by openers Lendl Simmons and Martin Guptill in their innings as they put on 34 for the first wicket in five overs.
However, off-spinner Shane Shillingford choked the innings. He claimed three wickets for six runs from his first three overs, before ending with three for 23.
He first bowled the inform Simmons for a top score of 38, trapped Hafeez (13) leg before wicket and similarly dismissed Narsingh Deonarine without scoring.
The Warriors were struggling on 84 for six, in the 17th over as James Franklin was smartly run out by Tamim Iqbal, before Christopher Barnwell and Dinesh Ramdin gave the innings some late momentum, adding 42 in the last three overs.
Barnwell played an important cameo, as he smashed 17 runs off Shillingford’s last over, and finished with an unbeaten 29 off 14 balls. Ramdin was not out 13. (CMC)
