Stars slump to fifth defeat as Amazon Warriors grab first win

GROS ISLET, St Lucia (CMC) – Johnson Charles struck a half-century but it proved in vain as St Lucia Stars’ woeful form in the Caribbean Premier League continued with a six-wicket loss to the previously winless Guyana Amazon Warriors in St Lucia on Sunday.
Seeking to break a four-game losing streak, Stars failed to defend 153 and slumped to their fifth straight defeat to remain bottom of the six-team standings and on the verge of elimination with just over a week gone in the Twenty20 tournament.
Opting to bat first at the Darren Sammy Cricket Stadium, Stars were lifted by Charles’s 53 as they tallied 152 for eight off their 20 overs.
Australian Shane Watson chipped in with 32 while captain Sammy produced a cameo 26.
Seamer Rayad Emrit was superb with four for 35 while Afghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan claimed two for nine from his four overs to earn Man-of-the-Match honours.
In reply, Jason Mohammed spearheaded the run chase for Amazon Warriors with 38 while the unheralded Gajanand Singh guided them home with an unbeaten 35.
Opener Chadwick Walton had earlier chipped in with 33 while partner and captain, New Zealander Martin Guptill, hit 23.
The pair put on a measured 39 off 31 for the first wicket but it was a 57-run, fourth wicket stand between Mohammed and Singh which put Amazon Warriors on top.
Mohammed faced 31 balls and struck three fours and a six while Singh crunched three fours and two sixes in a fluent 22-ball knock.
However, drama ensued when Mohammed tugged a Mitchell McClenaghan full toss to Sammy at mid-off off the final ball of the penultimate over, leaving the visitors to get eight runs off the final six balls.
Sammy then conceded three runs off the first three balls before Roshon Primus (7 not out) clipped a full length delivery on leg to the mid-wicket boundary to ease the tension.
Earlier, Charles had struck three fours and four sixes off 32 balls to provide the momentum early on for Stars.
He put 48 for the third wicket with Watson before holing out in the deep off Rashid Khan, triggering a slide where Stars lost four wickets for 19 runs to decline to 110 for six in the 16th over.
Sammy then stepped up, pummeling three sixes in a 39-run, seventh wicket stand with Rahkeem Cornwall (14) to add respectability to the total.