CPL 2025
Quentin Sampson smashed 76 off 39 in his team’s win © CPL via Getty Images.
Guyana Amazon Warriors sealed their berth in the CPL 2025 playoffs with a tense win over the Saint Lucia Kings. With a hefty 186 set as the target, Quentin Sampson scored 76 off 39 deliveries before the lower middle-order finished the job in Guyana. It rendered Roston Chase’s sublime 90* off 55 deliveries in vain. Despite the defeat, the Kings are assured a top-two finish while a win for the Warriors in their final league game will give them second spot in the table.
Unlike his previous outings for Kings, Tim Seifert couldn’t provide a strong start, falling in the second over. His opening partner Johnson Charles too fell early, leaving the Kings 32 for 2 after four overs. It brought Chase and Ackeem Auguste to the crease together. The latter began his innings with a six while Chase wasted no time getting going against Moeen Ali. He hit the offspinner for two fours and two sixes as the Kings got some added impetus to their innings. Auguste found the boundary twice in the sixth over as the Kings ended the PowerPlay on 64 for 2.
The Warriors pulled things back with four quiet overs from the 7th to the 10th which also included a drop of Auguste. The batter made the Warriors pay as he launched successive sixes in the 12th over before bringing up his 50. Auguste fell to Imran Tahir a few balls later bringing an end to the blazing 90-run partnership. Chase, however, kicked on, scoring 16 off Hassan Khan, and brought up his 50 in the process. Tim David uncharacteristically struggled with timing and fell cheaply for 3.
The Warriors bowled seven wides at the death, yet the Kings managed only 43 runs in the last five overs. While the 18th and 19th overs went for 30 runs, the other three produced just 13, dragging the Warriors back into the contest.
In the chase, Sampson and Ben McDermott struck at least one boundary an over until the latter was dismissed in the fifth for a quick 16. Sampson then closed out the PowerPlay with two fours off David Wiese. His continued fluency allowed Shai Hope to get settled in his innings.
Sampson carted consecutive sixes off Keon Gaston to bring up his maiden CPL 50 off 27 balls. He then struck the Kings spinners in Tabraiz Shamsi and Kharry Pierre for straight sixes as well, as the Warriors moved past 100 within 11 overs. But Chase could do no wrong as he picked up Sampson and Shimron Hetmyer back-to-back to give the Kings a chance.
Shamarh Brooks fell to Shamsi before Chase had Hassan Khan stumped as the Warriors lost four wickets for 21 runs. Romario Shepherd too fell cheaply for six as the innings continued to derail for the hosts. Despite wickets tumbling all around him, Hope found some crucial boundaries in the death overs off Chase and Keon Gaston before falling to Wiese. Moeen smashed a handy six which left the hosts needing 12 off the final over. Five came off the first three deliveries but also included the run-out of Moeen but a missed run-out chance gave Dwaine Pretorius a life and he paid the Kings back in kind with a six off the last ball to seal the win.
Brief Scores: Saint Lucia Kings 185/4 in 20 overs (Roston Chase 90*, Ackeem Auguste 50; Dwaine Pretorius 2-36, Gudakesh Motie 1-24) lost to Guyana Amazon Warriors 188/8 in 20 overs (Quentin Sampson 76, Shai Hope 44; Roston Chase 3-30, Tabraiz Shamsi 2-31) by 2 wickets
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