The decision not to bowl Cornwall, who recently came back from representing the West Indies in England, raised a few eyebrows. But, the spinner has not been among the tournaments leading wicket-takers for several seasons. In addition, Zouks captain Darren Sammy had a battery of spin bowlers at his disposal, which included Roston Chase, who took more wickets than Cornwall in England.
In the end, after making it to their first CPL final, as heavy underdogs, the Zouks fell short to the Trinbago Knight Riders. Cornwall has insisted he was fit and ready to perform but his omission from the line-up was the captain’s choice.
“It was basically the captain’s decision; maybe it was his gut feeling to go for the other bowlers. He thought he didn’t need me at that time so he went for especially his depth bowlers,” Cornwall recently told the Antigua Observer.
"The pitch was a spin bowlers pitch and I am always ready for whenever he calls on me and if he doesn’t then it is the case but I’m always set and ready if I am called upon,” he added.
Guyana Amazon Warriors won the toss and chose to bowl first, producing a disciplined performance to bowl the Knight Riders out for just 94. Imran Tahir and Gudakesh Motie produced valuable economical spells, while Dwaine Pretorius took four wickets.
It was a nervy chase from the Amazon Warriors in front of a home crowd as the Knight Riders tried to restrict runs with spin. However, Saim Ayub and Shai Hope, the two leading run scorers in CPL this season, would ultimately see the team over the line, winning by nine wickets.
Despite a 24-run opening stand between Chadwick Walton and Mark Deyal, the Knight Riders lost wickets at regular intervals, with three falling to seam bowling in the Powerplay, including key batter Nicholas Pooran for just one.
Captain Kieron Pollard would fall straight after the Powerplay, as spin began to play a vital role, with Motie and Tahir causing havoc, taking a combined four wickets between them and conceding just 15 runs in total.
Keacy Carty would attempt to lead the resistance for the Knight Riders, but as he ran out of partners he found himself taking more risks, eventually falling to a brilliant Shimron Hetmyer catch. The Knight Riders would finish 94 all out.
Guyana Amazon Warriors lost the early wicket of Keemo Paul, who was opening, which added tension to their chase. Knight Riders would deploy both Akeal Hosein and Sunil Narine in the Powerplay in an attempt to prise more wickets, but the Amazon Warriors would end the Powerplay on 29-1.
Saim Ayub and Shai Hope would show the form that has led to them leading the run scoring charts this season, combining to take the Amazon Warriors to victory, Ayub bringing up his half century with a six from the last ball of the chase, to take the Warriors to a maiden CPL title win.
Scores: Guyana Amazon Warriors 99-1 (Ayub 52*, Hope 32*; Hosein 1-21) beat Trinbago Knight Riders 94 all out (Carty 38, Deyal 16; Pretorius 4-26, Motie 2-7) by 9 wickets.
In the end, it proved to be a reversed performance of sorts for Simmons, when considering the Knight Riders' previous Caribbean Premier League (CPL) campaign. Last season, he started the competition well but went missing in the later rounds. His 1 run against the Tridents, in the semi-finals, perhaps set the stage for the team's loss.
One season later, after a poor start to the competition, Simmons is free to bellow his redemption song. His 54 from 44 in the semi-final and 84 from 49 in the final game, played a big role in the Knight Riders not only lifting the title but achieving a historic unbeaten season.
“Last year I did well in the prelims and when it came to the semi-finals, I didn’t get a score and we ended up losing the game. So, I took the responsibility upon myself to make sure we got it over the line this time," Simmons said following the game.
“I did not start the tournament well, but I ended well, and I am happy with my performance,” he added.
Simmons finished the tournament as the top runs getter with a total of 356.
He likens the teams to two biblical characters.
“I see them as Goliath,” said Sammy while addressing the media during a pre-final press conference on Wednesday.
“They are the Goliath of the tournament, but like I said to my men, don’t forget that David defeated Goliath.
“That’s the confidence we have as a team. Everybody knows that from the time the tournament started we said whoever wins this tournament has to go through TKR. That was a given. If you want to win this tournament you have got to beat TKR, and that is what is left to do to win this cup.”
Sammy, who led the West Indies to two ICCT20 World Cups, said the team is confident and united in its vision regarding what is to unfold at the Brian Lara Stadium on Thursday morning.
“They (TKR) have played some exciting, dominant brand of cricket but we have that silent confidence in our team that we play as a unit,” he said.
“They play well as a unit by dominance but we play as a unit by pulling together and believing in ourselves. I think is a very good matchup for tomorrow, and hopefully in this COVID time, we will bring out the entertainment that will ease the stress of the Caribbean people.”
The Zouks got to the final in a dominant win over five-time finalists Guyana Amazon Warriors. The Zouks bowled the Warriors out for just 55, the second-lowest score in CPL history and then achieved their target without losing a wicket.
Sammy led the team to six wins and four losses during the preliminary round.
