Hetmyer, Rutherford destroy Trinbago Knight Riders
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DPI, Guyana, Monday, September 10, 2018
The entire Providence National Stadium erupted on Sunday evening, as sons of the soils, Shimron Hetmyer and Sherfane Rutherford together led an assault on the Trinbago Knight Riders to secure the second position on the points table heading into the playoffs slated for Tuesday, September 11.
The duo made light work of the 155-target set by the Knight Riders in a mere 14.1 overs. Hetmyer scored a masterful 59 runs off 30 balls smashing five sixes and three fours while Rutherford hit 45 runs off just 13 balls which included six sixes and one four and was also Man of the Match.
“It was my intention, there was nothing to lose” Rutherford stated when asked whether his plan to get going from the first ball was deliberate. Rutherford added that heading into the playoffs, a huge effort was required to give the home team the confidence for the big games ahead.
“I am very confident and it was the confidence that I needed and hopefully going into the next game, will I give my team the same boost and we come out victorious, get into the finals and bring home the trophy,” Rutherford said.
In front of capacity crowd at Providence, the Guyana Amazon Warriors seamers Sohail Tanvir and Rayad Emrit, with the ball, got the best of opposition batsmen. Both bowlers ended with two wickets apiece. Captain of the Warriors’ Chris Green took one wicket for 22 runs. While Imran Tahir was not amongst the wicket-takers, he was the most economical giving away just 5.5 runs per over in his allotted four overs.
The Warriors, having made 172 runs the previous night on the same wicket, got off to a blistering start to their innings despite losing opening batsman Luke Ronchi in the fourth over. Hetmyer and Cameron Delport began the assault on the Knight Riders with a 41 runs partnership before Delport was caught and bowled by Kevon Cooper in the eight over. Jason Mohammed soon followed in the 11th over off the spin of Nikita Miller.
Nevertheless, the onslaught continued at the hands of Rutherford who clobbered Miller for a hat-trick of sixes on his first three balls. Hetmyer followed suit in the very next over completely destroying the seam bowling of Anderson Phillip hitting him for two sixes and a four. Captain of the Knight Riders Dwayne Bravo was no exception to the assault. He was like that of a spectator on the field after being hit for three sixes by Rutherford, leaking 21 runs in the 13th over.
With just 10 runs required to win from 35 balls, Hetmyer would lose his wicket in the 14th over off the bowling of Fawad Ahmed leaving the Chadwick Walton and Rutherford for closed the game off with a maximum and a boundary.
Captain Green gave high praises to both Rutherford and Hetmyer for their spectacular performances. “It was an outstanding team effort and to Hetmyer and Rutherford that was a joy to watch, the way they backed themselves and backed their game and got us over the line there and got us into this 1v2 playoff on Tuesday night was outstanding to see and I am so pleased for them” Green stated.
On September 11, the Warriors will go head to head once again with the Knight Riders while the Jamaica Tallawahs will face the St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots the following day. Both games will be played at the National Stadium, Providence.
Match Summary: Guyana Amazon Warriors 158 for 4 (Hetmyer 59, Rutherford 45*, Fawad 2-20) beat Trinbago Knight Riders 154 for 7 (Darren Bravo 42*, Ramdin 32, Emrit 2-25) by six wickets.
By: Isaiah Braithwaite.
Images: Keno George and Kawise Wishart.