Guyana Amazon Warriors finished at the top of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2023 points table with a massive 88-run win in the last league game. West Indies' ODI captain Shai Hope went absolutely berserk at Providence Stadium, Guyana to score the second-fastest century in CPL history. Hope went after Barbados Royals' Rahkeem Cornwall smashing him for four sixes and two fours in the 17th over of the innings.
After Royals' skipper Rovman Powell opted to field first, Hope walked into bat in the fourth over as Saim Ayub departed. In the fifth over, Hope took on Jason Holder and hit him for two fours and a six. Hope reached his half-century from just 23 balls in the 11th over.
In the sixth over, he went all out against off-spinner Cornwall. After a four towards long-on, he smashed three sixes in a row as Cornwall erred. He followed it up with a four and finished the over with a six off full-toss to breach the three figures.
His knock came to an end in the next over. Hope’s 44-ball 106 was studded with nine fours and eight sixes. His knock helped the Warriors post a mammoth total of 226/7.
In the run chase, Cornwall was the first to fall. Then Gudakesh Motie pushed them on the back foot with two strikes in consecutive overs. Skipper Imran Tahir inflicted damage to the middle order as Royals were reduced to 87/6 in the 15th over. Rivaldo Clarke did not let the Royals get bundled out. Clarke remained unbeaten for 54 off 43 balls including eight fours. Royals managed to post 138/6 and lost the match by 88 runs.
“Today I decided to express myself and it just clicked. It was my matchup and we had a very solid start and we had a lot of depth in our batting. Rahkeem had to take the punch but it was one of those days,” Hope said in the post-match presentation.
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