James shines bright with 52 and 4 wickets; West Indies secure win
Tournament: ICC Women’s U19 World Cup
Opponent: Ireland U19 Women
Venue: North-West University Oval Ground
Result: West Indies won by 7 runs
Scorecard: https://bit.ly/3ZAw68D
West Indies Rising Stars opened their ICC Women’s U19 World Cup campaign with a seven-run win over Ireland Women’s U19 at the North-West University Oval in Potchefstroom, South Africa on Sunday.
Zaida James had an outstanding match as she led the batting with 52 off 57 balls, which also included eight fours. This helped West Indies to reach 125-3 off their 20 overs. She returned with the ball to take 4-20 off her four overs which limited Ireland to 118-7 off their 20 overs.
James took command of the West Indies batting striking her maiden T20 half-century and the first of the Rising Stars World Cup campaign. Together with fellow opener Shunelle Sawh, the pair looked fearless against the Irish bowling attack. Thirteen runs came from the sixth over with James stroking two fours in the process. The pair posted 67 for the first wicket, when Sawh was the first to depart for 15.
James carried on and was joined by the in-form Naijanni Cumberbatch with the pair posting a further 39 runs together. James fell for an unbeaten 52 off 57 balls, which included eight boundaries. Rising Stars posted 125/3 from their 20 overs, Cumberbatch finished on 21 not out off 27 balls, while Jannillea Glasgow hit a brisk 13 not out off 10 balls.
When Ireland batted James struck four times with her left-arm off-spin, removing Irish captain Amy Hunter 21, top-scorer Annabel Squires 42, Abbi Harrison 13 and Joanna Loughran 1.
Speaking after the end of play, James was thrilled with her match-winning heroics, which earned her the Player of the Match award. She told CWI Media:
“It’s certainly a great feeling to have an all-round performance like this and even better that we had a team victory. Our focus is one game at a time and to finish the group stage strong, then we will look at the remaining stages of the tournament.”
The victory sees the West Indies move to the top of the table in Group C, with 2 points and a Net Run Rate of +0.350. They play Indonesia on Tuesday January 17 at North-West University Oval, Potchefstroom – 7:45am Eastern Caribbean/6:45am Jamaica.
GROUPS
Group A: Australia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, USA
Group B: England, Pakistan, Rwanda, Zimbabwe
Group C: Indonesia, Ireland, New Zealand, West Indies
Group D: India, Scotland, South Africa, UAE
WEST INDIES MATCH SCHEDULE
Sunday 15 January: vs Ireland at NW University, Potchefstroom – West Indies won by 7 runs
Tuesday 17 January: vs Indonesia at NW University, Potchefstroom – 7:45am Eastern Caribbean/6:45am Jamaica
Thursday 19 January: vs New Zealand, JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom – 7:45am Eastern Caribbean/6:45am Jamaica
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