Chadwick Walton struck seven boundaries and six sixes during his knock of 92
Image courtesy of: CPL T20 Ltd
Chadwick Walton struck a game-winning 92 as the Guyana Amazon Warriors kept their hopes of reaching the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) knockout stage alive with a four-wicket win over the Barbados Tridents.
However, Tridents opener Dwayne Smith deserves a lot of credit as he smashed a valiant 100.
As a result of their victory, the Amazon Warriors are in fifth place on the CPL standings, but are level with the Tridents as they both have four points. However, the Tridents are in fourth due to their superior net run rate.
Coming into the match, the Amazon Warriors and Tridents were both looking to turn their fortunes around as they lost to the Trinbago Knight Riders and St Kitts and Nevis Patriots respectively.
Being put in to bat first, the Tridents made a fantastic start to their innings as Smith and Kane Williamson amassed a 107-run partnership, during which Smith brought up his fifty.
With the Tridents cruising, the Amazon Warriors were in desperate need for a wicket, but they had to wait until the last ball of the 16th over to get it when Williamson was dismissed by Rashid Khan for 47, which came off 43 balls and included three boundaries and two sixes.
Tridents captain Kieron Pollard only made six runs, while Smith went on to score 100 off 70 deliveries, which included 10 boundaries and five sixes, before he was removed by Sohail Tanvir on the fourth ball of the final over.
Nicholas Pooran fell the very ball as the Tridents ended up making 159/4 off their 20 overs.
Tanvir was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, while Rashid chipped in with one.
Chasing 160 to win, the Amazon Warriors got off to a brisk start before Tanvir was sent packing by Imran Khan for 16.
Gajanand Singh failed to trouble the scorers, but Walton and captain Martin Guptill stabilised the innings with an 81-run partnership, during which Fletcher sailed past his fifty, before Guptill was dismissed by Pollard for 27.
Pollard struck again the very next ball as he took out Walton for 92, which came off 57 balls and included seven boundaries and six sixes.
Even though Jason Mohammed and Keemo Paul fell short after, the Amazon Warriors managed to reach their target with five balls to spare.
Pollard was the most successful bowler with four wickets, while Imran and Akeal Hosein claimed one wicket each.