The West Indies women defeated Ireland women by six wickets in the third CG United One Day International series at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground under lights on Saturday night.
Winning the toss, Ireland elected to bat first and posted 203 all out in their full quota of 50 overs. The star of the Irish innings was Gaby Lewis, who got stranded on 95 not out of 121 balls. Her knock included eight boundaries and a six, she shared a 50-run partnership with Cara Murray which was crucial in steadying the ship after Ireland lost quick wickets.
The West Indies bowling unit was led by the experienced Afy Fletcher, who returned excellent figures of 10-0-37-3, causing significant trouble for the Irish batters. She was well supported by Shamilia Connell who chipped in with two key wickets, giving away just 16 runs in her four overs.
In response, the West Indies Women started their innings shakily, losing a few early wickets. However, it was Stafanie Taylor who delivered a match-winning performance with her 40th ODI half-century.
Taylor, who was named Player of the Match, found a reliable partner in Chinelle Henry, who carried on her good form from the first ODI, hitting her second consecutive half-century.
Together, they put on a match-winning 104-run partnership, steering their team to a comfortable six-wicket victory with 8.4 overs to spare.
This win marked the second victory in the series for West Indies Women, giving them a 2-0 triumph over Ireland Women and earning them five vital ICC Women’s Championship points. The series win will undoubtedly serve as a confidence booster for the team moving forward into the T20 International series.
This was captain Hayley Matthews first series win and she was named Player of the Series, due to her outstanding ceremony in the first match.
She told CWI Media: “I’m happy that we were able to get over the line in a series that we were looking to dominate. We earned valuable ICC Women’s Championship points, Stafanie is back in form and Chinelle is coming into her own along with debuts from our youngsters, I’d say those are some serious positives we can take away from this series. We all knew the potential Chinelle has and what we have been expecting from her, it’s great to see her scoring runs and I know there’s more to come.”
The two teams will now switch to the shorter format when the three-match T20 International series starts on Tuesday at the same venue. All matches will start at 5pm Eastern Caribbean time (4pm Jamaica time).
SOURCE: Cricket West Indies
Wait, what? There is a west indies women’s team?