Campbelle brings it home as West Indies Women win thriller in opening T20I
GROS ISLET, St. Lucia- West Indies Women defeated Ireland Women by two wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I Series at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground on Tuesday night.
Winning the toss and bowling first, skipper Hayley Matthews and debutant Ashmini Munisar put the screws in Irish scoring, Matthews finishing with figures of 4-0-22-3 and Munisar 4-0-16-1, while pacer Cherry-Ann Fraser picked up 3-0-22-2 as Ireland were restricted to 112-8 from their 20 overs. Ireland’s skipper Laura Delany was their highest runs-scorer with 34 followed by Eimear Richardson with 22.
Full scorecard here
West Indies started their innings on shaky ground as Rashada Williams was run out by Orla Prendergast. Shabika Gajnabi joined Matthews as they looked to reset and go after the 113-run target. Gajnabi played a solid supporting role, but lost here wicket when she charged down the wicket she was stumped for 14 by Amy Hunter.
Chinelle Henry then accumulated quick runs but in attempting for a non-existent run saw her well short of her crease from a direct throw by Prendergast. Matthews soldiered on as wickets were falling around her. However, in 15th over, Matthews (37) and Zaida James (0) fell in consecutive deliveries to leave the team tottering on 74-5 and needing 39 off 30 for victory.
Vice-captain Shemaine Campbelle and Afy Fletcher breathed life back into the run-chase as they posted a 25-run partnership in three overs. But the next ball after a beautiful reverse sweep for four, Fletcher was bowled by Aimee Maguire for 19. Needing seven runs from the final over, it did not lack the theatrics for a thriller, as Shamilia Connell was LBW to Cara Murray
Debutant Munisar joined Campbelle and she stroked the ball for two runs, then a leg-bye allowed Campbelle on strike. A wide by Murray leveled the scores and Campbelle was able to finesse the ball into the gap for the winning run on the very last ball of the inning to give the West Indies Women the opening victory. Bowling for Ireland, Arlene Kelly finished with figures of 4-0-21-3.
Captain and Player of the Match Matthews said,
“A lot of nerves coming down to the end but still a lot of positives we can take from today’s game. We did a good job restricting Ireland to 112 on a really good batting wicket. Personally, I was happy to contribute to the win. Ashmini Munisar making her debut, how economical she bowled and taking her first wicket was one of the positives and it’s a good sign for the future.”
Match tickets are available online from the Windies Tickets service, presented by Mastercard - Tickets.windiescricket.com - at a discounted price of US$6/EC$16 (USS3/EC$7.50 children and seniors) with tickets available on the day at the box office at a price of US$7.50/EC$20 (US$3.75/EC$10 for children and seniors).
For fans unable to get to the games in St. Lucia, the CG United ODI Series will be exclusively live on RUSH Sports in the Caribbean and on BT Sport in the UK & Ireland. The matches will also be shown around the world on FanCode (India), ESPN+ (USA), Sky NZ (NZ), SuperSport (sub-Saharan Africa) and in all other countries on the Windies Cricket YouTube channel.
FULL SQUAD
- Hayley Matthews (captain)
- Shemaine Campbelle (vice-captain)
- Aaliyah Alleyne
- Shamilia Connell
- Chinelle Henry
- Afy Fletcher
- Cherry Ann Fraser
- Shabika Gajnabi
- Zaida James
- Djenaba Joseph
- Qiana Joseph
- Ashmini Munisar
- Stafanie Taylor
- Rashada Williams
T20 International Series:
All matches start at 5pm Eastern Caribbean Time (4pm Jamaica Time)
Tuesday 4 July: 1st T20I- West Indies won by 2 wickets
Thursday 6 July: 2nd T20I
Saturday 8 July: 3rd T20I