POTCHEFSTROOM, South Africa – West Indies produced two clinical back-to-back performances to capture the ICC Women’s Twenty20 Challenge title here yesterday.
They crushed the Netherlands by 99 runs in their final group stage match before trouncing Sri Lanka by eight wickets in a low-scoring final at North-West University Ground to win the tournament.
The success for the Caribbean side comes after they missed out in the One-Day International segment when they finished second to South Africa.
They made no such mistakes this time around, however. Chasing 84 for victory, prolific teenager Deandra Dottin stroked 39 from 22 balls to propel her side to 85 for two off 10.4 overs.
Dottin, who was also in good form in the ODIs, hammered five fours and two sixes and shared a second wicket stand of 44 off 29 balls with opener Juliana Nero whose 28 required 27 balls and included three fours.
Nero had added 27 from 19 balls for the first wicket with Stafanie Taylor (13), to give West Indies a fairly solid start.
Earlier, Sri Lanka lost Inoka Galagedara without scoring to the fifth ball of the match and never recovered against miserly Windies bowling, after opting to bat first.
Experienced opener Chamari Kumarihami topscored with 20 from 22 balls, while Dilani Surangika chipped in with 19 from 38 balls.
In their first match of the day, Stacy-Ann King blazed to a fine 81 from 47 balls to propel West Indies to an imposing 191 for four off their allotted 20 overs against the Netherlands.
She struck 12 fours and shared a 124-run stand for the third wicket with opener Tremayne Smartt who cracked 62 from 42 balls with four fours.
Opener Carlijn de Groot then hit a top score of 23 from 31 balls to lead her side to 92 with just a ball left in the innings.
Off-spinner Anisa Mohammed grabbed two for 11. (CMC)
Scoreboard:
SRI LANKA
C Kumarihami c Taylor b King 20
I Galagedara b Smartt 0
S de Alwis run out 16
S Dolawatte run out 8
*S Siriwardene b Mohammed 1
+D Surangika c King b Campbelle 19
C Wickramasinghe run out 1
E Kaushalya run out 2
C Seneviratna b Taylor 2
S Weerakkody not out 1
U Prabodhani not out 4
Extras: (lb2, w5, nb2) 9
TOTAL (9 wkts, 20 overs) 83
Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Galagedara, 0.5 overs), 2-27 (de Alwis, 6.2), 3-48 (Dolawatte, 8.3), 4-48 (Kumarihami, 8.4), 5-51 (Siriwardene, 9.3), 6-53 (Wickramasinghe, 11.4), 7-65 (Kaushalya, 15), 8-76 (Surangika, 19), 9-76 (Seneviratna, 19.1)
Bowling: Smartt 2-0-6-1, Daley 4-0-15-0, Taylor 3-1-14-1, Selman 1-0-7-0, Mohammed 4-0-19-1, King 2-1-8-1, Campbelle 4-0-12-1.
WEST INDIES
S Taylor c de Alwis b Kaushalya 13
J Nero not out 28
D Dottin c & b Siriwardene 39
S King not out 1
Extras: (lb1, w2, nb1) 4
TOTAL (2 wkts, 10.4 overs) 85
Did not bat: T Smartt, B Cooper, *+M Aguilleira, S Daley, S Campbelle, A Mohammed, S Selman.
Fall of wickets: 1-27 (Taylor, 3.1 overs), 2-71 (Dottin, 8)
Bowling: Weerakkody 2-0-20-0, Kaushalya 3-0-25-1, Prabodhani 2-0-15-0, Siriwardene 2-0-15-1, Seneviratna 1.4-0-9-0.
Result: West Indies won by eight wickets.
Series: West Indies win title.
Player Of The Match: Deandra Dottin.
Umpires: M Kotze, B Mantle. (CMC)
