Jamaica open title defense with big win over the Leeward Islands
Jamaica opened the defense of their Cricket West Indies Women’s T20 Blaze title with an eight-wicket victory over the Leeward Islands in match 2 at Warner Park, St Kitts on Saturday.
Electing to bat first, the Leewards were in all sorts of trouble from ball one, when they lost Melicia Clarke for a first ball ‘duck’ and Davronique Maynard off the last ball of the over. In the ninth over, they were struggling at 19-7 but Terez Parker 22 not out and Jenison Richards 19 not out, shared in 49-run partnership to see the Leewards finish on 68-7 from their 20 overs. Celina Whyte was the pick of the Jamaica bowlers, finishing with figures of 4-2-7-2 followed by Neisha-Ann Waisome with 4-1-9-2.
When Jamaica batted, Keneshia Ferron and Rashada Williams shared a 27-run opening partnership before Ferron was caught for 13 off 17 balls. It was Williams with a well-compiled 36 not out from 29 balls and 7 not out from Natasha McLean that took Jamaica to victory with 49 balls remaining.
Jamaica captain Stafanie Taylor said after the match:
“It’s good to start off with a win. I still believe we were a bit rusty and wasn’t really convincing with the ball. It’s good to put this behind us as we have a big game tomorrow. Our bowling and fielding need to tighten up a bit. There’s always an expectation that as defending champions that teams will be gunning for you, but you have to take each game at a time and know that on the day that’s when you have to perform.”
Red Force Divas stun Barbados
Trinidad and Tobago Red Force Divas stunned Barbados, with a five-wicket victory in the final match of the night. Winning the toss and bowling first, the Red Force Divas made early inroads into a Barbados team missing the formidable Hayley Matthews who is being rested. Lee Ann Kirby had the Bajans scampering on 35-5 in 11.5 overs, as she removed Kyshona Knight (7), Aaliyah Alleyne (1) and Alisa Scantlebury (2) to be the top Red Force Divas bowler with 4-0-10-3.
Captain Shakera Selman and NaiJanni Cumberbatch shared in a 34-run partnership before Cumberbatch was run out by Kirby for 13, as the Barbadians ended on 80-6 in their 20 overs.
Barbados did not do themselves any good as their bowlers bowled 16 extras to make the Red Force Divas run-chase much easier. Leg-spinner Keila Elliott 2.3-0-16-2 and pacer Shamilia Connell 4-0-27-2 seemed to have the Bajans pushing back for a thrilling victory but 25 not out from Lee Ann Kirby and 23 from Britney Cooper ensured the Red Force Divas batters did enough to pick up a momentous victory and vital points.
Anisa Mohammed, the winning captain said:
I think that we needed a big performance today, we knew we were playing against Barbados, one of the toughest teams in this tournament. We said we had to play our best game and have fun as once we did that we would come out on top and I thought we did a tremendous job today. Lee Ann Kirby played a really good knock to take us over the line and was well supported by Britney Cooper.”
Guyana hold off Windwards for thrilling four-run victory
In the first match of the day, Guyana defeated the Windward Islands by a narrow four-run margin. Batting first, Guyana were restricted to 88-7 in their 20 overs, thanks to the leg-spin of Windwards captain Afy Fletcher, who finished with figures of 4-0-10-4.. Katana Mentore 39 and Sheneta Grimmond got the Guyanese off to a flyer, adding 42-runs for the first wicket, then it a continuous progression of wickets.
Windwards looked like they had a chance for victory thanks to a decent middle order partnership between Qiana Joseph 19 and Pearl Etienne 15 not out but it was not to be as the tidy Guyanese bowling kept them in check. The Windwards finished their innings on 84-8. Plaffiana Millington, Sheneta Grimmond, Ashmini Munisar, Kaysia Schultz and Nyia Latchman all had one wicket a piece bowling for Guyana.
All matches will be streamed LIVE on the Windies Cricket YouTube channel with live scorecards and ball-by-ball scoring on the Windiescricket.com live match centre.
MATCH SCHEDULE
CWI T20 Blaze (all matches played at Warner Park)
Round 1: Saturday 20 May
Windward Islands vs Guyana – Guyana won by 4 runs
Leeward Islands vs Jamaica – Jamaica won by 8 wickets
Trinidad & Tobago Red Force Divas vs Barbados – T&T Red Force Divas won by 5 wickets
Round 2: Sunday 21 May
Windward Islands vs Leeward Islands – 10am
Guyana vs Barbados – 2:30pm
Jamaica vs Trinidad & Tobago Red Force Divas – 7pm
Round 3: Tuesday 23 May
Trinidad & Tobago Red Force Divas vs Windward Islands – 10am
Jamaica vs Barbados – 2:30pm
Guyana vs Leeward Islands – 7pm
Round 4: Thursday 25 May
Jamaica vs Guyana – 10am
Leeward Islands vs Trinidad & Tobago Red Force Divas – 2:30pm
Barbados vs Windward Islands – 7pm
Round 5: Saturday 27 May – 8am
Leeward Islands vs Barbados – Warner Park
Trinidad & Tobago Red Force Divas vs Guyana – St Paul’s
Jamaica vs Windward Islands – Conaree
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