CPL 2017: Luke Ronchi replaces Guptill in Guyana

New Zealand former wicketkeeper batsman, Luke Ronchi, has replaced Martin Guptill in  Guyana Amazon Warriors side for the remainder of the season of CPL 2017. Guptill had to return to New Zealand because of an important family health matter and Guyana lost their regular captain as well.

Ronchi has been recently retired from the International cricket post the ICC Champions Trophy in June this year. New Zealand failed to qualify for the knockouts of the tournament and were beaten by Bangladesh in the virtual quarterfinal. The former New Zealander had been playing in T20 blast in England with Leicestershire.

Omar Khan, the operations manager of Guyana Amazon Warriors supported Guptill’s decision to return to his family and has welcomed Luke Ronchi to the side. He said, “It’s unfortunate and hugely disappointed to lose Martin at this stage of the Tournament but we empathize with his situation and he has our full support as he return home to his family. We welcome Luke to the Guyana Amazon Warriors family and his wealth of experience and explosive batting in this format will certainly be an asset to our team.”

Guyana in CPL 2017

Guyana Amazon Warriors are currently at 4th position in the points table so far. They have played 8 matches and won 3 matches with 6 points to their name. The loss of their skipper Martin Guptill is a huge as the tournament has reached its business end and every match is important.

Luke Ronchi will be a perfect like-for-like replacement though and can provide Guyana with some quick fire starts. Ronchi is coming off a decent season at T20 Blast in England. He was among the top ten run scorers of the tournament scoring 429 runs at a jaw dropping strike rate of 180.25. Guyana is scheduled to play their next game against Barbados Tridents on Tuesday 29th August.