LAUDERHILL, Florida – West Indies U19 Women suffered a five-wicket defeat to the USA U19 Women in their opening match of the five-match series at the Broward County Stadium in Lauderhill, Florida.

Winning the toss and electing to bat first, the West Indies saw a steady flow of wickets despite a track that was conducive for run-scoring. In the day-night encounter, the Trinidadian pair of Shalini Samaroo and Djenaba Joseph were the only two who got the scoreboard ticking with a 35-run partnership, after Shunelle Sawh fell in the second over for two.

Joseph scored 27 off 44 balls with two boundaries and Samaroo got 16 off 27 balls also with two fours as the West Indies posted 79-7 from 20 overs. Ritu Singh was the pick of the USA bowlers, finishing with 3-0-9-3, followed by Bhumika Bhajriraju with 4-0-15-2.

Tya Gonzalves with 21 not out from 25 balls with four fours  and 13 not out with two fours from Geetika Kodali took the hosts to an easy five-wicket win in 16.3 overs. KD Mitchell was the pick of the West Indies bowlers, with figures of 3-0-8-1, followed by Niveena Ramnauth with 2-10-1.

Both teams meet again on Tuesday for another day/night encounter at the Broward County Stadium. First ball is at 6:30pm Eastern Caribbean/5:30pm Jamaica time. All matches will be streamed via the USA Cricket Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/USACricket.

Full Scorecard here

FULL SQUAD

Ashmini Munisar (Captain)

Shalini Samaroo (Vice Captain)

Asabi Callender

Najanni Cumberbatch

Realeanna Grimmond

Zaida James

Djenaba Joseph

KD-Jazz Mitchell

Ashley Ramnath

Samara Ramnath

Shunelle Sawh

Kate Wilmot

MATCH SCHEDULE – at Broward County Stadium

8 August: 1st Women’s U19 T20I – 6:30pm (5:30pm Jamaica)

9 August: 2nd Women’s U19 T20I – 6:30pm (5:30pm Jamaica)

11 August: 3rd Women’s U19 T20I – 10:30am (9:30am Jamaica)

12 August: 4th Women’s U19 T20I – 10:30am (9:30am Jamaica)

14 August: 5th Women’s U19 T20I – 10:30am (9:30am Jamaica)