Guyana Amazon Warriors 196 for 4 (Charles 67, Gurbaz 66, Shepherd 28*, Iftikhar 1-12) beat Rangpur Riders 164 (Iftikhar 46, Saif 41, Mahidul 30, Pretorius 3-37, Motie 2-32, Tahir 2-39) by 32 runs
A batting display headlined by three contrasting innings, and a combined bowling effort in which all the key players made valuable contributions, took the Guyana Amazon Warriors, the hosts, to the Global Super League title in Providence on Friday night. They overcame the Rangpur Riders, champions of the inaugural season, with a target of 197 that might have seemed attainable — but not after a powerplay collapse at 32 for 3.
It began with the run-out of Ibrahim Zadran in the second over, followed by Dwaine Pretorius claiming the first of his three wickets — Soumya Sarkar — in the fifth. Moeen Ali chipped in with the crucial dismissal of Kyle Mayers in the sixth.
The resistance came through Saif Hassan and Iftikhar Ahmed, who added 73 runs for the fourth wicket in 44 balls. However, another run-out, this time of Saif, triggered a fresh collapse. The Riders went from 102 for 3 to 126 for 8 between the 13th and 17th overs, from which there was no recovery.
Orchestrating the collapse were Pretorius, who dismissed Azmatullah Omarzai and Iftikhar — the top-scorer with 46 off 29 balls — and Imran Tahir, who accounted for Nurul Hasan and Khaled Ahmed.
Mahidul Islam Ankon swung his bat effectively to score 30 off 17 balls, but it was too little, too late to stop the Amazon Warriors from clinching the title.
For the Warriors, Gudakesh Motie also picked up two wickets, while the only frontline bowler who went wicketless, Akeal Hosein, still managed to concede just 24 runs from his four overs.
Earlier, after opting to bat, the Amazon Warriors were propelled by a 121-run partnership in 70 balls between opener Johnson Charles and No. 3 Rahmanullah Gurbaz. The pair came together in the fourth over after Evin Lewis was dismissed by Khaled, and batted through to the end of the 15th before Charles retired out on 67 off 48 balls, featuring 11 fours and a six
Gurbaz departed almost immediately after for a 38-ball 66, laced with six fours and four sixes, while the finishing flourish came from Romario Shepherd, who struck three sixes and a four in his unbeaten 28 off nine balls. (ESPNcricinfo)
