Guyana Amazon Warriors secured their place in the GSL final with a commanding four-wicket win over Hobart Hurricanes, thanks to Shimron Hetmyer’s explosive cameo and a match-defining spell from Gudakesh Motie.
Motie and Moeen Set the Tone Early
Electing to bat first, Hobart Hurricanes got off to a shaky start. Moeen Ali dealt a double blow in the second over, removing Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Jake Doran within three deliveries, reducing Hurricanes to 14 for 2.
Soon after, Dwaine Pretorius clean bowled Ben McDermott for 21, despite McDermott hitting him for three boundaries earlier in the over. The Hurricanes tried to rebuild through Nikhil Chaudhary and Macalister Wright, who added 29 runs during the powerplay, showing intent despite the early setbacks.
But the game changed when Gudakesh Motie was introduced in the seventh over. He immediately had Chaudhary stumped off his first delivery and then trapped Wright LBW later in the same over.
“𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒆’𝒔 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒉𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝑰𝒂𝒏 𝑩𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒑 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒅𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒕.
From 65 for 3, Hurricanes stumbled to 77 for 6, with Imran Tahir and Motie cleaning up the tail. Although Mohammad Nabi and Fabian Allen put together a 35-run stand, the innings ended at just 125 all out, with Motie finishing with 3 for 9 in his four overs.
Hetmyer’s Fireworks Steal the Show
The Amazon Warriors’ chase didn’t begin smoothly. They were reeling at 29 for 2 after seven overs, with Johnson Charles bowled for 8 by Billy Stanlake and Rahmanullah Gurbaz falling LBW to Nabi for 7.
Moeen Ali, batting at No. 4, had a slow start — scoring just 8 off his first 17 balls. The innings stagnated further when Evin Lewis departed for 7, leaving GAW struggling at 43 for 3 after 9 overs.
Just when things looked grim, Shimron Hetmyer exploded. Facing Fabian Allen, he launched five sixes and a two in a single over, breathing life into the innings.
“𝑯𝒆𝒕𝒎𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒄𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈,” 𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝑴𝒐𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝑨𝒍𝒊 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅.
He eventually scored 39 off just 10 balls, including a towering six off Usama Mir. Although Hetmyer was later dismissed, his blitz ensured the required rate plummeted.
Stanlake tried to mount a comeback, removing Sherfane Rutherford for 3, but Motie chipped in with 19 off 13 balls, and Moeen anchored the chase with an unbeaten 30 off 36, guiding GAW to victory with more than three overs to spare.
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