Kevin O'Brien, who once smashed a 20/20 hundred against England, hit a 40 ball 70 to lead Trinidad Red Steel to their 1st CPL victory last night against Guyana's Amazon Warriors. Photo credit: supplied

Guyana made a strong start to their chase of 160, with Lendl Simmons hitting Fidel Edwards for six off the first ball of the innings. He followed that up with a six and a four in Edwards' next over but was caught behind off the next ball, trying to run it to third man. T&T tied Guyana down thereafter, Delorn Johnson removing Martin Guptill and Dwayne Bravo dismissing Ramnaresh Sarwan and Mohammad Hafeez, who fell for a slow 35.

With the asking-rate mounting, James Franklin and Christopher Barnwell revived the chase with a 78-run stand in 39 deliveries. Franklin led the charge, scoring two fours off Edwards in the 17th over, which cost 15. Franklin and Barnwell scored 14 and 12 off the next two overs, but were left with 20 to get off the last six balls. A tight start to the over from Kevon Cooper put the chase out of Guyana's hands, although Franklin hit the last three balls for boundaries to make a few T&T spectators nervous.

T&T, who had opening stands of 28, 6 and 5 before this game, finally had a strong start as Kevin O'Brien and Adrian Barath added 95 in just under 12 overs. O'Brien was flamboyant from the start, hitting the first ball of the match for a six with the fielder Steven Jacobs messing up at deep square leg, and dominated the stand with Barath as T&T brought up their first 50-run opening stand in 7.1 overs.

The first breakthrough for Guyana came from Jacobs, who dismissed Barath for 29. O'Brien fell in the 16th over for a 47-ball 70, which included two fours and six sixes. Ross Taylor stepped up in the final overs, hitting 39 off 27 to take T&T to 159 for 4.

T&T are now placed second from the bottom with three games left in the league. A relieved Bravo credited the improved batting performance to Brian Lara's pep talk before the match, but the side will need a few more solid performances to ensure a top-four finish and a semi-final berth.