Pretorius, Shamar and Batters Power Guyana Amazon Warriors to Second Straight Win

The Guyana Amazon Warriors secured their second consecutive victory after a dominant seven-wicket win over the St Lucia Kings, moving to the top of the points table.

The Warriors' bowling attack laid the foundation for the victory as Dwaine Pretorius and Shamar Joseph claimed five wickets between them to restrict the Kings to 151 for 7.

Pretorius was particularly effective with his variations in pace and short-pitched deliveries, finishing with three wickets. Shamar, meanwhile, consistently bowled above 145 kmph and touched a top speed of 149.9 kmph as the Kings struggled to build momentum.

St Lucia Kings captain Roston Chase later admitted that his side's total was around 25 runs short of what they needed.

The Kings got off to a shaky start after Pretorius dismissed both openers during the powerplay. Kamil Pooran scored 19 off nine balls before top-edging a short delivery to the wicketkeeper, while Andries Gous was caught at deep midwicket for 20 off 21 balls.

The Kings' top order failed to establish meaningful partnerships. Imran Tahir dismissed Ackeem Auguste before Shamar removed Chase before the halfway stage.

Charith Asalanka and Darren Nedd then attempted to rebuild the innings, adding 45 runs from 40 balls. However, both fell to excellent catches from 41-year-old Mohammad Nabi. Nabi first caught Nedd at mid-off before taking a superb diving catch at deep midwicket to dismiss Asalanka off Pretorius in the 19th over.

Matthew Forde struck two sixes, while Shadley van Schalkwyk added two boundaries late in the innings to push the Kings beyond the 150 mark.

Chasing 152, the Warriors made a flying start through Glenn Phillips and young opener Mavendra Dindyal. Phillips attacked from the outset, hitting two sixes and two fours, while Dindyal played a more measured innings.

The pair added 48 runs during the powerplay and 77 in the opening 10 overs. Phillips survived after a catch at deep extra cover was dropped, but he was dismissed by Forde off the very next ball.

Dindyal, playing only his second T20 match, brought up a valuable half-century after scoring a duck on his CPL debut. He accelerated with two sixes before being stumped off Maheesh Theekshana, who had bowled an economical opening spell of two overs for just nine runs.

The Kings briefly regained control when Theekshana, van Schalkwyk and Chase combined to concede only 13 runs across three consecutive overs. Theekshana also dismissed Shai Hope, giving the Kings a glimmer of hope.

However, Quentin Sampson quickly changed the momentum with two leg-side sixes, followed by four consecutive boundaries from Shimron Hetmyer in the next over.

Hetmyer then finished the chase in style with a six, as the Warriors smashed 36 runs from the final nine balls to complete a comfortable seven-wicket victory.

The result gives the Guyana Amazon Warriors their second straight win and puts them at the top of the points table, while the St Lucia Kings will need to improve their batting performance in their upcoming matches.