GROS ISLET, St Lucia (CMC) — Opener Brandon King struck his third-straight half-century as unbeaten leaders Guyana Amazon Warriors maintained their imperious form with a dominant eight-wicket victory over St Lucia Zouks, to notch a seventh straight win in the Caribbean Premier League here Wednesday night.

Chasing an unchallenging 162 on a good pitch at the Darren Sammy Stadium, the last year losing finalists romped to their target with 10 balls and plenty of effort to spare, further consolidating their place at the top of the standings.

King, a no-nonsense 24-year-old Jamaican, top-scored with an audacious unbeaten 81 off 59 balls while opening partner Chandrapaul Hemraj struck 33 and captain Shoaib Malik, an unbeaten 30 off 28 balls with three fours.

Asked to score at just above eight an over, Amazon Warriors were well placed at 81 for two at the half-way stage and King and Shoaib controlled the back-end of the run chase to perfection to avoid any hiccups.

Choosing to bat first, Zouks once again failed to post a competitive total, despite Colin de Grandhomme’s 65 off 37 balls, and were restricted to 161 for seven off their 20 overs.

Colin Ingram (25) and Chris Barnwell (23) both got starts but the hosts found themselves pegged back by Australian seamer Ben Laughlin (3-12) and charismatic leg-spinner Imran Tahir (2-23).

Their start remained cause for concern as openers Andre Fletcher (18) and Rahkeem Cornwall (six) fell in successive overs to leave the innings tottering on 24 for two in the sixth over.

Fletcher holed out in the deep after failing to middle one from Tahir while Cornwall was run out at the striker’s end, lazily ambling through for what was supposed to be a quick single and failing to ground his bat.

De Grandhomme then energised the innings, lashing three fours and five sixes to inspire two key stands – 56 for the third wicket with Ingram and 33 for the fourth with Jahmar Hamilton (nine).

The New Zealander was fifth out in the 17th over, picking out Odean Smith at deep cover off fast bower Romario Shepherd.

In reply, King and Hemraj negated any chance of a Zouks comeback when they put on a swift 52 off 34 deliveries for the first wicket.

King belted two fours and half-dozen sixes, marching to yet another fifty off 36 balls in the 12th over with the second of two successive sixes off Barnwell’s medium pace, in an over which leaked 21 runs.

Left-hander Hemraj, who counted two fours and three sixes in a 20-ball cameo, perished in the sixth over and Shimron Hetmyer followed cheaply in the seventh over for five but King and Shoaib took Amazon Warriors over the line in an unbroken third wicket stand worth 92.