The seven-wicket victory was achieved courtesy of a first-day rout from Jaguars spinner Veerasammy Permaul, whose 7-59, left the hosts 216 all out, with just Jermaine Blackwood, 59, really putting up any resistance.
In reply, the Jaguars depended on half centuries from Chanderpaul Hemraj (82) and Vishaul Singh (93) to get to 304 and a healthy lead of 88. That lead was too much for the Scorpions who buckled under the pressure, collapsing for 111, a lead of just 24.
Permaul was back at it again in the second innings, bagging eight wickets this time. Those eight wickets cost just 18 runs to end with figures of 15-77. The other two wickets went to Kevin Sinclair, who ended with 2-26.
For the Scorpions, the only batsman into double figures, John Campbell, scored all of 66 runs as his side meekly gave up the ghost.
Sinclair, nine, Leon Johnson, two, and Tagenarine Chanderpaul, two, all lost their wickets in chase of the minuscule total, with Singh on five and Christopher Barnwell on four, the not out batsmen.
Hetmyer scored an unbeaten 67 off 59 balls, hitting three fours and four sixes, as he partnered with Tevin Imlach for an unbroken second-wicket stand of 93 to helped propel Guyana to 155 for 1 from 28.4 overs in reply to the Windwards’ 153 all out.
Imlach, who scored an unbeaten 37, shared an opening stand of 62 with Chanderpaul Hemaj, who made 41.
Alick Athanaze was the lone wicket-taker for the Windwards with 1-130 from his seven overs.
Earlier, Man-of-the-Match Keon Joseph took 4-24 and Hemraj 2-11 as the Windwards were bundled out for 153 in 45 overs.
Only Kevin Stoute, who scored 41 and Emmanuel Stewart 46 offered any real resistance to the Guyana bowling attack.
Stoute and Stewart put on 60 for the fifth wicket after which Stewart and Kevin Cottoy mounted a 39-run stand for the sixth. Cottoy made 27.
The teams will meet again in the second semi-final on Thursday.
Along with Hetmyer and Hope, the Amazon Warriors have also announced the retention of fast bowler Odean Smith, all-rounders Romario Shepherd an Keemo Paul, spinner Gudakesh Motie as well as Chandrapaul Hemraj, Matthew Nandu and Junior Sinclair.
The overseas players and draft picks will be announced during the Republic Bank CPL draft show which will be broadcast at the end of June.
The tournament gets underway on 16 August with the final taking place on 24 September. There will be matches in Barbados, Guyana, St Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago.
They had a comfortable six-wicket victory over Guyana Jaguars on Saturday night at Coolidge Cricket Ground in a top-of-the-table clash. Guyana, meanwhile, suffered their first defeat but remain in second place on 12 points from four matches.
Leg-spinner Imran Khan took a career-best five-wicket haul to bowl out Guyana for 187 after they were 106 without loss.
Playing his 50th List A match, Khan ran through the middle-order with a spell of 5-32, as the last nine wickets tumbled for 81 runs. He was named the CG Insurance Man-of-the-Match.
For Guyana, opener Chandrapaul Hemraj played some brilliant strokes as he reached 87 off 83 balls with six sixes, but was one of Khan's victims, as he tried to cut a ball that was too close and was well caught behind by Denesh Ramdin.
Then, under the lights, half-centuries from Jason Mohammed and Darren Bravo ensured Red Force finished the job as they reached 189-4 in the 41st over.
Mohammed scored an unbeaten 82 off 114 balls with eight boundaries. In the process, he reached 2,000 runs in the 50-over format for Trinidad and Tobago.
Left-hander Bravo, who was stand-in captain, also batted well and made 58 from 77 balls – his 36th half-century in the List A format. He hit six fours a six and calmly helped Mohammed add 112 in 23 overs for the third wicket.
“It feels great to get five wickets for my country, my first five-for in this tournament as well. I tried to keep it simple, that’s my style, and it worked for me. To win five out of five is just what we wanted. I know we will be ready for it (semi-finals). I see myself as someone to make a contribution in any way the team requires and always ready when the captain calls on me,” Khan said after the match.
Upcoming matches
Sunday: Barbados Pride vs Jamaica Scorpions at Coolidge Cricket Ground 1:30 pm (12:30 pm Jamaica Time)
Monday: Guyana Jaguars vs Windward Islands Volcanos at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium at 9 am (8 am Jamaica Time).
Russell, who was disappointing during the ICC T20 World Cup in the UAE mere weeks ago, hit nine fours and seven sixes in a 32-ball 90 that propelled the Gladiators to 159-0, a total that proved unreachable from Dwayne Bravo’s Bulls.
By comparison, Russell’s opening partner Tom Kohler-Cadmore, faced four fewer balls and hit three fours and three sixes to his unbeaten 59.
Together, they plundered the Bulls’ bowling attack that comprised Romario Shepherd (0-29), Dominic Drakes (0-33) Ravi Rampaul (0-28) and Bravo (0-32).
Russell would complete his standout performance taking 1-25 as the Delhi Bulls, which had won the toss and chose to field, could only muster 103-7 from their 10 overs, despite a 20-ball 42 from Chandrapaul Hemraj.
It was virtually a solo effort from Hemraj, who hit two fours and five sixes in his knock as Romario Shepherd (9) was the only other Caribbean player who contributed with the bat as Sherfane Rutherford, Drakes and Bravo all failed to score.
Fittingly, Russell bowled Shepherd with the last ball of the match.
Odean Smith played his part taking 2-20, similar figures to Hasaranga da Silva. Tymal Mills was the best of the Gladiator bowlers with extraordinary figures of 2-4 from his two overs.
