After being reduced to 29-8 in the first innings, the Guyana Amazon Warriors turned the tables to script a six-run victory, claiming their second consecutive Global Super League title.
The Global Super League 2026 Final at Providence aggregated 164 runs, which was the lowest-scoring match in the season. To add to that, the fixture also went down as the lowest successful title defense in a multi-nation T20 tournament final. The record was previously held by Nigeria, who defending 103-7 against Rwanda in the 2023 West Africa Trophy final.
The Guyana Amazon Warriors topped the points table in the group stages, with three victories out of their four games, the only loss coming against Perth Scorchers XI. They eventually beat the San Francisco Unicorns in a nail-biting Final to clinch their second consecutive title in a row under Imran Tahir.
Guyana Amazon Warriors send records tumbling to win GSL second time in a row
After electing to bat, none of the top eight batters GAW could cross 10. To Worse, only of these batters scored more than five runs as they were reduced to 29-8 in 8.5 overs. However, a crucial 41-run partnership between Matthew Forde and Dwaine Pretorius, who was later named the Player of the Match, rescued them from humiliation.
Forde’s 23-ball 28, coupled with useful contributions from Pretorius and skipper Tahir got GAW to 85, which still seemed too less. The defending champions were run over by 41-year-old Peter Siddle, who scalped 3-18 in his four overs, and Anirush Immanuel, who had 4-0-7-3. Skipper Hassan Khan did not get a wicket, but conceded only 11 in his four overs.
In reply, SFU faltered twice inside two overs as Pretorius and Gudakesh Motie got into action. Oliver Peake (31 in 28 balls) stitched a short yet promising partnership with Hassan, taking the score from to 28 in a span of 10 deliveries before Pretorius got him.
No.5 Sanjay Krishnamurthy could manage a mere nine off 24 balls as he struggled against Mohammad Nabi. His 25-run partnership with Peake took 43 balls and threw a wind of caution for the Unicorns. But Nabi got the better of both, dismissing them in successive overs (tenth and 12th).
Tahir scalped two more in the 11th over as the SUF were reduced from 53-4 to 58-8 in the blink of an eye. Fabian Allen and Siddle got them to 72, but it came down to the last wicket.
Towards the end, 14 runs were required in as many deliveries, which later came down to seven off 10. Callum Stow then challenged Shimron Hatmyer at mid-off for a quick single. Hetmyer inflicted a direct hit as GAW marched to their second consecutive title under Tahir. Pretorius returned 3-24, Nabi 3-12, and Tahir 2-16.
Image credits: Global Super League and Guyana Amazon Warriors
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