Tahir five-for, Sampson's sixes seal top spot for Guyana Amazon Warriors

Imran Tahir and CPL debutant Mehidy Hasan Miraz took combined figures of 8 for 30 to subdue St Lucia Kings

Guyana Amazon Warriors 122 for 6 (Sampson 37*, Phillips 37, Chase 3-34) beat St Lucia Kings 119 (K Pooran 43, Pienaar 35, Tahir 5-17, Mehidy 3-13) by four wickets

Forty-seven-year-old Imran Tahir almost single-handedly took down St Lucia Kings' batting as Guyana Amazon Warriors resumed their winning ways with victory in a low-scoring game in Providence. Chasing just 120, Amazon Warriors were in a spot of bother at 98 for 5, with 22 to get from 17 balls, before Quentin Sampson sealed the deal with a stunning, unbeaten 37 off 11 that included five sixes and a four, to hand Kings their third loss in a row.

The win took Amazon Warriors' points tally to 14, which confirmed they will finish on top of the CPL 2026 league table, one point above Antigua and Barbuda Falcons. Amazon Warriors can extend that tally further, with two more games to play before the playoffs, against Trinbago Knight Riders and Barbados Tridents.

Opting to bat, Kings made a reasonably good start, scoring 51 for 1 in the powerplay, but the Amazon Warriors bowlers seized momentum after that as Mehidy Hasan Miraz - on CPL debut - struck in his first over, as did Tahir when he trapped the in-form Kamil Pooran lbw for 43 off 35. Tahir struck with his next delivery as well, in the 10th over, getting his captaincy counterpart Roston Chase out lbw for just 1. Sixty-four for 4 soon became 72 for 6 when Mehidy sent back Kemol Savory and Charith Asalanka in the 11th over, before Tahir ran through the tail.

As Tahir kept aiming for the stumps, McKenny Clarke and Matthew Forde were bowled for ducks in the space of three balls before Joshua Bishop was foxed by a wrong'un to be given out lbw. That sealed Tahir's fifth T20 five-for and his second in the CPL. Tahir and Mehidy finished with combined figures of 8 for 30 and bowled 28 dot balls between them.

The Amazon Warriors openers took it easy at the start of the chase, scoring just 12 off the first three overs before Chase broke the opening stand. The hosts crawled to just 23 for 1 in the powerplay. They had not even reached 50 after 11 overs and finally broke the shackles when Glenn Phillips broke a 36-ball boundary drought with a slog-swept six off Chase. He also took on Maheesh Theekshana in the next over but was bowled by the same bowler for a 40-ball 37.

Amazon Warriors stuttered further as Asalanka had Shai Hope caught behind and Chase had Mehidy hole out - all within in the space of five balls - to leave the score 69 for 4 in the 15th over. Then, with 48 required off 30, Hetmyer and Sampson hit Asalanka for a six each in the 16th over. And even though Hetmyer and Romario Shepherd fell in the 18th and 19th overs, Sampson ensured Amazon Warriors wouldn't slip up, hitting 6, 6, 4, 6 off the last four balls he faced.