A disciplined bowling performance from Amazon Warriors, led by Romario Shepherd (3-35) and Moeen Ali (2-24), restricted the Royals to 148. Amazon Warriors’ top three fired with the bat, with Hope scoring a half-century and putting on a 93-run stand with Moeen Ali (44*), as they took their team over the line with 5.3 overs to spare.
Moeen Ali chipped in with the bat and ball and helped Amazon Warriors book a berth in the CPL 2024 final. Moeen Ali proved his worth both with the bat and ball in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2024 Qualifier 2 between Guyana Amazon Warriors and Barbados Royals at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on October 4 (Friday).
The English cricketer Moeen Ali first chipped in with the ball scalping 2 wickets for 24 runs, playing a key role in bowling the Barbados Royals out for 148, before remaining unbeaten in Guyana Amazon Warriors’ successful run chase which has helped them seal a place in the CPL final.
Pitch and Toss
Pitch report: We are one pitch further towards the western direction. 74m down the ground, 63m square boundaries. There’s sheen and shine on the surface, so the ball will come on to the bat nicely. The average score here is 165. The teams will be aiming for a little bit more. The Warriors have lost matches where Motie has gone wicket-less, tonight’s going to be a blockbuster, reckons Samuel Badree.
Guyana Amazon Warriors skipper Imran Tahir won the toss and opted to field with Kevin Sinclair in place of Shamar Joseph. Rovman Powell skipper of Barbados Royals batting first made no changes in the Playing XI.
Moeen Ali and Romario Shepherd restricts BR to 148 in 20 overs
Earlier in the first innings, Quinton de Kock hit a four and a six inside the first three overs but was otherwise kept quiet and was eventually out caught and bowled by Gudakesh Motie for a run-a-ball 15. Rahkeem Cornwall struck a flurry of boundaries before being trapped in front by Shepherd. The Royals managed 41 in the powerplay and just when they were looking to press on, with Alick Athanaze and Kadeem Alleyne batting positively, both fell in quick succession with Moeen Ali and Imran Tahir striking in successive overs.
Rovman Powell looked to transfer the pressure back, hitting a four and a six off Moeen Ali , but the former England all-rounder had him caught in the deep to leave the Royals in more trouble. David Miller, who struck a couple of sixes off Tahir, contributed with a 26-ball 36 as the Royals looked set to finish close to 160. But they failed to cross even the 150 mark as Shepherd bagged two wickets in the final over and there were two run-outs too, preventing the Royals from executing a final flourish.
Barbados Royals lost each of its top four batters, including in-form Quinton de Kock (15 off 15), around the first half of the innings. Spinner Gudakesh Motie and fast bowler Romario Shepherd delivered the early breakthroughs for the Guyana Amazon Warriors by getting rid of Quinton and Rahkeem Cornwall (19 off 11) respectively. Moeen Ali and Imran Tahir also bagged a wicket each as the Barbados Royals crashed to 75-4 in 10.2 overs.
After Moeen Ali (2-24) deceived Barbados Royals skipper Rovman Powell for 12 at 87-5, blistering lower-order batter David Miller cracked a swift 36 from 26 balls to steer his team to 139 by the penultimate over. In an attempt to reap the most out of the slog overs, he ended up slicing one towards Shimron Hetmyer off Dwaine Pretorius after top-scoring for his side. Two wickets for Romario Shepherd (3-35) and a couple of runouts in the final over helped the Warriors restrict the Barbados Royals to just 148.
Moeen Ali, Shai Hope And Gurbaz Steer Warriors Into CPL 2024 Finals
Chasing 149, Guyana Amazon Warriors opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz smeared 40 runs from just 18 deliveries within the first powerplay during his 54-run partnership with Moeen Ali. While Gurbaz was eventually dismissed by Maheesh Theekshana in the fifth over, wicketkeeper-batter Shai Hope joined Moeen Ali at the crease and the two maintained the same blistering rate to take their team to 113-1 at the end of the first 10 overs.
Shai Hope cracked 56 runs from just 33 balls during his 93-run second-wicket partnership with Moeen Ali. The England-based opening batter himself carved 44 unbeaten runs off 35 balls with three boundaries and a couple of sixes before recording the winning run alongside Shimron Hetmyer (1*) with eight wickets and more than five overs to spare.
Moeen Ali hit a couple of boundaries in the first two overs to get Amazon Warriors going in the chase before Gurbaz got into the act, striking successive sixes off Maheesh Theekshana. Naveen-ul-Haq came under attack from his Afghanistan team-mate as Gurbaz got 18 off the fourth over, which included a six and two fours.
Theekshana was hit for another six that took the partnership past 50 before the spinner hit back by dismissing Gurbaz for 40 off 18. Amazon Warriors, however, continued to attack as 18 came off the sixth over, bowled by Jason Holder, with Shai Hope scoring two fours and a six.
Amazon Warriors got to 72 in the powerplay and by the halfway stage of the innings, they had raced to 113 as Hope and Moeen Ali raised a brisk half-century stand. Barring the seventh over bowled by Ramon Simmonds, in which only four runs were scored, the rest of the overs were profitable from Amazon Warriors’ perspective with Hope and Moeen Ali dealing in big hits regularly as they brought the equation down to 36 off the last 60 balls.
Hope entered the 40s with two successive fours off Theekshana in the 11th over and got to a 26-ball fifty two overs later. Moeen got into the 40s with a four off Obed McCoy and took the winning single in the 15th over after Hope was bowled by Simmonds.
Moeen Ali came out to open the batting for Amazon Warriors and never looked out of place. He scored 44 off 35 and played his part to perfection with his opening partner Rahmanullah Gurbaz first taking the attack to the opposition before Shai Hope took that role as Moeen Ali went about doing his job of keeping one end intact while also scoring at a rate of 125.71. It was no surprise that Moeen Ali was chosen for the Most Valuable Player (MVP) recognition.
Brief scores: Barbados Royals 148 in 20 overs (David Miller 36, Alick Athanaze 26; Romario Shepherd 3-35, Moeen Ali 2-24) lost to Guyana Amazon Warriors 149/2 in 14.3 overs (Shai Hope 56, Moeen Ali 44*, Rahmanullah Gurbaz 40; Ramon Simmonds 1-26) by 8 wickets.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Imran Tahir the winning skipper said : I always smile, no matter what happens. We bowled really well in the powerplay, we knew there would be some dew later so wanted to bowl first although we haven’t been chasing well. Really proud of the boys for how we fought back. (On Moeen Ali) We signed him as an opener but never found the right combination. I’m really happy with the way he came and he showed his experience after we gave him that role.
Gurbaz played well as well, took down their bowlers. I think the crowd has been the difference, I want to thank every Guyanese person from the world and all those who came here to support us. Every time we come here, we get goosebumps. (On final) We always ready, we didn’t play very good cricket the last time around. Looking forward to a good battle against St. Lucia. It will be a great game for all those who love and watch cricket.
Rovman Powell the losing skipper said : I think we lost wickets at crucial intervals and that’s why we struggled. We struggled as individuals and we struggled as a team here in Guyana. We need to take the learnings from this and write a better script next year. (On 2026 final being in Barbados)I think it would mean a lot, 2026 is a long way away. The focus is now on next year, and we are happy to see the CPL being played all over the Caribbean.
I think Quinton played superbly throughout the season, Miller finished the competition strong. Our overseas bowlers were also really good. Naveen and Theekshana, the way they have bowled they provided us with a lot of control throughout the tournament.
Moeen Ali Player of the Match for his all round show said : Got a bit lucky with bowling with those full tosses. But have been doing a job for the team, this is an amazing place to play. Love the support that I’m getting.
I told Imran (Tahir) that you should let me open, I have been doing that in domestic and that’s something I could benefit the team with my experience. I just wanted to score as many runs as possible, but my situation was just to knock it around as Gurbaz scored the big shots. I suggested that I should open the batting, I felt it would be the best for the team.
Guyana Amazon Warriors are through to the final. The table toppers of the season have chased a target of 149 on a canter, winning with almost six overs to spare. The target was always feeling under par, and that proved true when Guyana bossed the powerplay. Gurbaz took down his countryman Naveen-ul-Haq for an 18-run over, before he holed out against Theekshana. His replacement Shai Hope though started with two fours and a six against Holder to end the powerplay at 72/1.
Moeen Ali joined in post the powerplay with a couple of sixes of his own, as GAW were well ahead of the asking rate. Hope continued to play his shots as he got a 26-ball fifty, but he couldn’t add the finishing touches as he was dismissed with two runs still needed. Moeen Ali then scored the winning runs to get the defending champions to another final. Guyana Amazon Warriors brush aside the Royals in this eliminator to set up another clash with St. Lucia Kings.