The Barbados Royals sealed a place in Friday's 2022 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) final with a comprehensive 87 run win over Guyana Amazon Warriors at Providence Stadium, Guyana.
Guyana Amazon Warriors won the toss and chose to field, but Barbados Royals would go on to score the joint-highest total of this season by reaching an imposing 195/5. Opener Rahkeem Cornwall starred in the innings, launching 11 sixes in his innings of 91, while Azam Khan supported with his own half-century.
The Warriors' hopes of a successful chase were derailed in the powerplay, as they lost four wickets, with Kyle Mayers and Ramon Simmonds proving effective with the ball. Despite the attempts of Shimron Hetmyer, it was not to be enough as the Warriors fell to 108 all out.
Barbados Royals had initially got off to a cautious start, but Cornwall would go on to play one of the most destructive innings seen this season, 91 runs from just 54 balls, to put the Royals into the ascendancy. After losing his wicket just nine runs short of a century to the bowling of Shakib Al Hasan, the responsibility of the innings fell on Khan, whose vital half-century would help his side to 195/5 by the end of the innings.
Guyana Amazon Warriors lost early wickets in their chase, in-form batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz departing in the first over, before a flurry of wickets fell that left the Warriors on 36-4 by the end of the powerplay. Simmonds excelled with his bowling, taking three key wickets, including that of captain Hetmyer, who was the Warriors highest scorer in the innings. In the end, the Warriors finished on 108 all out and will play in tomorrow night’s qualifier.
West Indies captain Hayley Matthews has risen to number one on the ICC’s latest women’s All-rounder rankings in One-Day Internationals.
The Barbadian most recently led the Windies in a home ODI series against New Zealand which they lost 2-1.
Matthews scored 88 runs in the three games, the most for West Indies, and also picked up five wickets, which took her to the No. 1 position on the allrounders' table, a jump of three positions past Australia’s Ellyse Perry, England’s Nat Sciver and South Africa’s Marizanne Kapp.
The 24-year-old Matthews has so far played 72 ODIs since her debut in 2014, scoring 1852 runs at an average of 27.23 with three hundreds and six fifties. She also has 83 wickets at an average of 24.27 with three four-wicket hauls.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) today named three “Rising Stars Team of the Tournament” from the recent Rising Stars Under-19, Under-17 and Under-15 Championships. The Leeward Islands won the Rising Stars Under-19 Championship presented by Winlott which was played in St Vincent. The Windward Islands won the Rising Stars Under-17 Championship held in Trinidad and Barbados captured the Rising Stars Under-15 Championship which was hosted by the Grenada Cricket Board.
Six players feature on both the Under-17 and Under-19 teams of the tournament. These are left-handed allrounder Nathan Edwards who led the Leewards to the Rising Stars Under-19 Championship title; openers Rampertab Ramnath and Stephan Pascal; as well as batters Jordan Johnson; Joshua Dorne, and Mavendra Dindyal.
Jordan and Edward were members of the West Indies Rising Stars U-19 team which played in the ICC Men’s U19 World Cup, hosted in the Caribbean by CWI earlier this year. Other members of that West Indies World Cup squad: batter Ackeem Auguste; allrounder Johann Layne; wicket-keeper Carlon Bowen-Tuckett; fast bowler Isai Thorne and off-spinner Onaje Amory were also named in the Rising Stars Under-19 Championship team of the tournament.
Vice President of CWI, Dr Kishore Shallow, congratulated the players on their selection and also spoke of the importance of investment in the Rising Stars championships as part of CWI’s Future Stars cricket development programme across the region.
“On behalf of CWI, I want to congratulate all the players who have been named in the three Rising Stars Teams of the Tournament," Dr Shallow said.
"This is a project we have implemented to add an additional incentive to the players’ pursuit of excellence and to help grow their self-confidence. It rewards the leading performers who have emerged from what were three high-quality tournaments.
“At CWI, we have strengthened the development of young players, and we have increased investment in related programs. This year we welcomed the return of age-group red-ball and white-ball tournaments as part of our very busy Summer of Cricket.”
The Rising Stars age group Championships play a crucial role in the growth and development of the next generation of West Indian cricketers. The Championships are a key component in the system for identifying the West Indies U19 Men’s and Women’s teams. This provides the best opportunity to thrive and develop further with the goal of feeding into the West Indies Senior Men’s and Women’s teams.
Rising Stars Teams of the Tournament:
Rising Stars Under-15: Darrius Batoosingh, Navin Boodwah, Shem Sargeant, Kemar Dixon, Brendan Boodoo, Matthew Miller, Pajay Nelson, Akobi Crichlow-Byer, Arif Khan, R’Jai Gittens, Arun Gainda; 12th man: Jorden Charles
Rising Stars Under-17: Stephan Pascal, Rampertab Ramnath, Jordan Johnson, Joshua Dorne, Orlando James, Nathan Sealy, Divonie Joseph, Micah McKenzie, Nathan Edward, Solomon Bascombe, Jatario Prescod; 12th man: Mavendra Dindyal
Rising Stars Under-19: Stephan Pascal, Rampertab Ramnath, Jordan Johnson, Ackeem Auguste, Joshua Dorne, Tarrique Edward, Nathan Edward, Carlon Bowen-Tuckett, Onaje Amory, Johann Layne, Isai Thorne; 12th man: Mavendra Dindyal
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Captain of the Jamaica Tallawahs said his team are rested and ready to go for the playoffs of the 2022 Hero CPL season.
St. Lucia Kings captain Faf Du Plessis hopes his team’s good form with the bat will carry over into their Eliminator against the Jamaica Tallawahs in the Caribbean Premier League in Guyana on Tuesday.
The Kings finished third in the league phase of the tournament with nine points from their 10 matches.
Their batting was led by their prolific opening combination of Du Plessis and Johnson Charles.
Charles, who was recently recalled to the West Indies squad for the T20 World Cup, finished the league phase as the leading run scorer with 342 runs from eight matches including four half centuries.
Du Plessis finished fourth on the runs chart with 291 runs in nine matches including three fifties and a magnificent 103 against the Guyana Amazon Warriors
“I think any batting team would say to you that form plays a big role. As a team I feel like, with myself and Johnson Charles up front, there’s some really good form in there. Some of the other guys are looking like they’re hitting the ball better as well so that’s a pleasing sign,” Du Plessis said.
“When guys are in form you want to cash in on that. Our start has basically been a weapon for us so, hopefully, we can get off to a good start again.”
Du Plessis also commented on the conditions of the Guyana pitch, saying “I’m really impressed with how the wicket has been playing. Based on my experience from the past here, it looks like a pretty good cricket wicket so it sets up nicely for what would be quarterfinals and semi-finals in the next two days.”
The Kings and Tallawahs will square off at 6:00pm Jamaica Time (7:00pm ECT) and the winner will advance to Qualifier 2 on Wednesday against the loser of Qualifier 1 between the Barbados Royals and Guyana Amazon Warriors.
Barbados Royals captain Kyle Mayers and his Guyana Amazon Warriors counterpart Shimron Hetmyer both expressed confidence in their respective teams ahead of their clash in Qualifier 1 of the Caribbean Premier League in Guyana on Tuesday.
The Royals and Amazon Warriors finished first and second in the recently concluded league phase and will clash at Providence with the winner booking their spot in the final and the loser getting another chance in Qualifier 2 on Wednesday against the winner of the Eliminator between the St. Lucia Kings and the Jamaica Tallawahs.
The Royals have been in fine form, winning eight out of their ten matches in the league phase.
“Things have been great. Winning eight games out of ten, I think the boys have been playing some good cricket. We’re studying the game, very high-spirited and ready to go for tomorrow,” said Mayers in a pre-match press conference on Monday.
On the other hand, the Amazon Warriors had an abysmal start, winning just one of their first six matches before reeling off four straight wins after returning to Guyana.
“So far it’s been okay. The start wasn’t what we expected as a team but when we got back to Guyana, the guys spirits were much higher than I expected and they were ready to go, especially with the crowds. With the crowds here and knowing the conditions as much as we do, I think the guys are really up for the challenge. It’s just for us to continue,” Hetmyer said.
The Royals have lifted the CPL trophy on two occasions in 2014 and 2019 while the Amazon Warriors have never won it despite reaching five finals, something Hetmyer says is not on his team’s mind heading into the playoffs.
“Mentally, the guys are good. We can’t really think about what happened in the past because a lot of these guys were not here when we made it to the knockout rounds before. We just have to keep taking it one game at a time and focus as hard as we can on the game to come.”
The match will start at 9:00am Jamaican Time (10:00am ECT).
Guyana Amazon Warriors completed the perfect set of home victories in the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) with a comprehensive defeat of the table-topping Barbados Royals on Sunday night.
The victory means the two teams will do it all again on Tuesday in the first qualifier.
The Amazon Warriors won the toss and opted to field first, and that proved to be an inspired decision. On a fresh surface, their seamers wreaked havoc taking three wickets inside the PowerPlay to leave the Royals in disarray.
Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals and the 125 the Royals mustered was never likely to be enough on a track that offered good value for positive stroke play.
The Royals were able to take two early wickets of their own when they had their turn to bowl restricting the Amazon Warriors to 18-2 but that was as good as it got.
Shakib Al-Hasan produced a scintillating half-century to put the Amazon Warriors on the cusp of victory and the remaining batters saw the chase home to win the game inside 15 overs.
Earlier Guyana Amazon Warriors had utilised the movement on offer to unleash their cadre of seamers on the Royals. Romario Shepherd, Keemo Paul and Odean Smith all weighed in with wickets to leave the Royals 97-9 and it was only late cameos from Ramon Simmonds and Mujeeb Ur Rahman that enabled the Royals to post 125.
Although the Amazon Warriors lost Chandrapaul Hemraj and Shai Hope in the PowerPlay, Shakib played an enterprising innings to take the drama out of the chase. His knock of 53 came off 30 balls and laid the foundation for the Amazon Warriors to win with five over to spare.
The two sides will now do battle again in the first qualifier on Tuesday to determine who will earn the right to go straight to the Hero CPL final.
Scores: Guyana Amazon Warriors 126-5 (Shakib 53, Gurbaz 22; McCoy 2-22, Mayers 1-20) beat Barbados Royals 125 (Holder 42, Khan 20; Shepherd 3-14, Paul 2-9) by 5 wickets.
Stafanie Taylor scored an unbeaten half-century to lead the West Indies Women to a four-wicket victory over New Zealand in the final ODI match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Sunday.
Taylor scored an 89-ball 51 before retiring as the West Indies Women, chasing 168, scored 169-6 with 38 balls remaining for a consolation victory in the three-match series.
Lauren Down scored 53 and Amelia Carr, 30, in New Zealand’s total of 168 in 48.1 overs. The West Indies Women bowled well to restrict New Zealand and were led by their captain, Hayley Matthews, who dismissed Down, finishing with figures of 2-23 from her 10 overs.
Spinner Karishma Ramharack took 2-28 and Afy Fletcher 2-31 as the attack gave the batters an achievable target.
After the West Indies lost the wickets of Natasha McLean and Shakibi Gujnabi early in the chase, Matthews scored 40, and with Taylor, put on 81 for the third wicket before she was dismissed by Brooke Halliday who took 1-16 from her four overs.
Taylor retired hurt shortly thereafter leaving, Aaliyah Alleyne to score an s unbeaten 27 as she and Shakera Selman (5) took the West Indies Women across to victory.
West Indies and Barbados Royals’ pace bowler Obed McCoy has come in for high praise from teammate and Barbados Royals' bowling partner Jason Holder.
The two are the leading wicket-takers for the Barbados-based CPL franchise and both have been selected in the West Indies squad for the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia.
The Barbados Royals lead the 2022 Hero CPL standings with 16 points having lost only one of the nine games played so far thanks in part to the bowling of Holder, who has so far taken 14 wickets in the tournament, second only to the St Lucia Kings’ Alzarri Joseph, who has 16.
McCoy has taken 13 wickets which puts him tied for third in the standings for most wickets. The former West Indies captain believes that the Vincentian’s bowling talent is among the best he has seen in recent times.
"He's probably one of the most skilled bowlers that we've produced in a very long time, and it is showing - he has been successful around the world,” said Holder of his Royals’ bowling partner in a recent interview with ESPNCricinfo.
“He has played in the IPL, county cricket, he has done well in the Caribbean as well. Again, if he continues to develop, and understands himself, then nobody can really stop him.”
Holder opined that McCoy has all the tools to be even better and he feels obliged to help the young bowler get to the lofty heights.
"He has got the talent and all the deliveries you could think of,” he said indicating that he wants to help as many of the upcoming bowlers as he can.
“So, it is important for me to continue to help them. Whatever they ask, just try to have answers for them. If I don't have answers at a particular time, try my best to find them and help them as much as I can. It's like being a parent.”
Right-arm pace bowler Cheryl-Ann Fraser has been selected to replace Shamilia Connell in the 13-player squad for the third and final CG United One Day International (ODI) against New Zealand Women to be played on Sunday, September 25, at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.
Guyana Amazon Warriors secured their place in the 2022 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) play-offs with a 37-run win over Trinbago Knight Riders.
Trinbago Knight Riders won the toss and chose to field in this must-win game, with Amazon Warriors opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz giving the fans at Providence stadium a spectacle, scoring 60 from 42 balls to ignite the Warrior’s innings and help take them to 173-6.
In their chase, the Trinbago Knight Riders built a steady opening partnership through Tim Seifert and Colin Munro, but wickets then fell throughout their innings as the Amazon Warriors were spurred on by a vocal home crowd. The Knight Riders finished 136 all out and lost by 37 runs.
Guyana Amazon Warriors suffered an early setback in their innings as Ravi Rampaul showed his effectiveness in the PowerPlay by taking the wicket of Chandrapaul Hemraj. Gurbaz would then play some spectacular shots to accelerate the run rate. Sunil Narine, who did not bowl until the 12th over, would claw the Knight Riders back into the game by taking the key wickets of Shakib Al Hasan and Romario Shepherd. A remarkable late blitz from Odean Smith, scoring 23 runs from 7 balls, would then catapult the Warriors to 173/6.
Trinbago Knight Riders had a good start in their chase, Seifert and Munro keeping up with the run rate, but led by Shakib, the Warriors fought back to take wickets, including some spectacular fielding to dismiss Nicholas Pooran. Once captain Kieron Pollard was out stumped, the Knight Riders faced an uphill battle and finished on 136 all out.
The result means that Trinbago Knight Riders have been eliminated from play-off contention.
Javier Hernandez netted a double to silence the San Jose Earthquakes crowd as LA Galaxy triumphed 3-2 to boost their playoffs aspirations on Saturday.
The former Mexico international took his season tally to 17 goals, mimicking a clown when celebrating both his goals in retaliation to a pre-game San Jose tifo that read: "The LA circus – same clowns, different costumes".
The result moves Galaxy up two places into fifth in the Western Conference on 46 points from 32 games, having secured back-to-back wins for the first time in MLS since April.
Julian Araujo's right-side ball for Hernandez led to the opener in the 12th minute, with the ex-Manchester United forward poking home.
Gaston Brugman doubled Galaxy's lead in the 42nd minute, capitalizing on a sloppy turnover to rifle in a rocket in off the underside of the bar.
Hernandez added their third in the 69th minute, producing a classy finish after Efrain Alvarez threaded an excellent ball into the box for him.
Cristian Espinoza pulled a goal back in the 74th minute, converting a penalty he won after before brought down by Galaxy goalkeeper Jonathan Bond before Hernandez fizzed a chance for his hat-trick wide.
The Earthquakes grabbed another goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time when Nathan's deflected header went in from Miguel Trauco's bouncing volley but it was mere consolation for the west's bottom side.
Newly appointed Jamaica Reggae Boyz head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson is hoping to conduct a valuable assessment during the team’s upcoming friendly international against Argentina.
The Reggae Boyz and the Albiceleste, led by football superstar Lionel Messi, will lock horns at the Red Bulls Stadium in New York, on Tuesday, for the fourth time in history. Hallgrímsson, who officially took charge of the team last week, admits the former world champions are a difficult prospect to face on his debut but hopes to gleam some valuable insights.
“It going to be a good contest and at least we’ll know where we stand and what we need to improve," Hallgrímsson said.
“For me, it’s a time to learn, a time to observe, time to evaluate. Then after this camp, we can see what we need to change if we need to change anything. Find out what is working and what is not working.”
In three matches Jamaica has not managed to secure a result against Argentina losing all three matches that the teams have played.
Waterhouse defender Ricardo Thomas has been drafted in to replace injured Ipswich Town defender Greg Leigh ahead of Jamaica’s friendly international against Argentina.
Leigh was expected to join up with the rest of the team in the United States on Friday but suffered an injury in the team’s 2-2 draw against Sheffield Wednesday earlier this week. Initially, the defender was thought to have just suffered a bruise to the area but subsequent scans revealed a compression fracture.
The injury is now expected to keep the player out of action for an extended spell.
“He, unfortunately, picked something up at the back end of the Sheffield Wednesday game, which was initially thought to be bone bruising,” the team’s manager Kieran McKenna said.
“At that point, it was touch-and-go whether he was going to go away for international duty.
“He’s had some scans this week, just to make sure, and unfortunately he has a compression fracture of his leg and will be out for a longer period of time. That’s a disappointing one for Greg and for us as well," he added.
The 29-year-old has made 8 appearances for the Jamaica national team and last played against Honduras in March. Thomas has played 10 matches for the national team and was last on the bench in the team’s Nation’s League match against Mexico in June.
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