Kycia Knight

Batting first, England was led by Natalie Sciver, who scored a game-high 90 from 96 balls, amassed 307-7 from their 50 overs. Sciver and Dani Wyatt shared in a fifth-wicket partnership of 103 in just under 17 overs that took the match beyond the reach of the West Indies Women. Wyatt contributed 68 to the mammoth total.

Tammy Beaumont (33) and Amy Jones (30) also made useful contributions.

Chinelle Henry was the best of the West Indies bowlers taking 3-59. Afy Fletcher took 2-66.

The West Indies Women were never able to cope with the demand of scoring more than six runs an over and unable to form useful partnerships, were bowled out for 165 in 40.3 overs. The exception was a 70-run second wicket partnership between Kycia Knight and Rashada Williams that produced a respectable 70 runs. Both were dismissed for 39 and 34, respectively.

Captain Hayley Matthews, who retired hurt early on, returned to score 34 for the home side.

Charlie Dean took 4-35 and Kate Cross 2-27 for the victors.

Matthews lamented her team’s inability to stick to the game plan.

"Both facets of the game (batting and bowling) we didn't do what we wanted on a decent and England was able to capitalize on it,” the captain said.

“We're going back to the drawing board and see what we can improve on in the next game. Our power play was pretty good but we let a little too many runs go by in the middle overs. It was good to see the partnership between Kycia and Rashada and I hope we can get a few more of those.”

The Leewards batted first at Warner Park on Saturday, making 121-5 off their 20 overs thanks to a 50-ball 33* from Divya Saxena.

Theanny Herbert-Mayers was the best bowler on the day for the Bajans with figures of 2-12 from her four overs.

The Barbados chase was then anchored be an 80-run opening stand between Knight and Aaliyah Alleyne who made 32.

In the end, Barbados claimed victory in 17.3 overs, reaching 122-2. Knight faced 51 balls for her 66*, hitting nine boundaries.

At St. Paul’s Sports Complex, Guyana won an extraordinary match against Trinidad & Tobago by one run to secure second place.

Guyana took first strike and were bowled out for a horrendous 39 in 19.3 overs with only skipper Shemaine Campbelle reaching double figures with 13 against an excellent four-over spell from Anisa Mohammed which saw her claim four wickets while conceding just five runs.

Steffie Soogrim and Shalini Samaroo also bowled eight overs between them, taking 2-7 and 2-10, respectively.

Then, amazingly, Guyana was able to defend the paltry total, bowling out T&T for 38 in 18.4 overs.

Mandy Mangru led the way with the ball with 4-11 from 3.4 overs while Ashmini Munisar took 2-8 from three overs.

At Conaree Sports Club, the Windward Islands beat Jamaica by six wickets.

Jamaica made 102-6 off their 20 overs batting first. Keneshia Ferron led the way with 32 off 41 balls while captain Stafanie Taylor made 22.

Afy Fletcher took 2-11 off her four overs for the Windwards.

The Windwards then needed only 17 overs to overhaul Jamaica’s total, reaching 103-4.

Zaida James led the way with 28 while Fletcher got 23.

The final points table saw Barbados and Guyana level on 16 points, followed by the Windwards (12), Jamaica (8), Trinidad & Tobago (8) and the Leewards (0).

In a thrilling encounter, Leeward Islands Women clinched a hard-fought 12-run victory over Barbados Women, propelled by a stellar performance from Reniece Boyce. Boyce's impressive half-century, scoring 67 runs from just 52 balls, guided Leeward Islands to a total of 139-7 in their allotted 20 overs.

Naijanni Cumberbatch delivered an outstanding performance with the ball, ending with figures of 4-9 from her four overs.

Despite a valiant effort from Barbados Women, with Kycia Knight contributing 37 runs and Kyshona Knight remaining unbeaten on 50, their endeavours fell short as they were restricted to 127-5. Rozel Liburd led the bowling attack for Leeward Islands, claiming 2 wickets for 18 runs.

In the second match of the day, Guyana Women cruised to a seven-wicket victory over Trinidad and Tobago Women.

Trinidad and Tobago struggled with the bat, managing only 66 runs before being bowled out in 18.3 overs. Plaffiana Millington was the star for Guyana, returning remarkable figures of 4-5 from 3.3 overs. Shunelle Shaw was the top scorer for Trinidad and Tobago with 15 runs.

In the chase, Guyana Women displayed dominance as they reached the target with ease, scoring 67-3 in just 11 overs. Shabika Gjnabi led the charge with an unbeaten 24, supported by Shemaine Campbell, who contributed 19 runs.

After chasing a record 167 two days ago in their opener, Hayley Matthews’ side made the most of their chances against the Trinbago Knight Riders.

The visitors were without their captain and most experienced international Deandra Dottin and exciting new overseas Orla Prendergast for their opening match of their WCPL defence.

Trinbago Knight Riders never got going with the bat despite winning the toss and opting to bat first, with only one player reaching double figures as the side capitulated to 73 all out.

The Royals didn’t hang around in their pursuit of the total knocking off 74 for four wickets inside 11 overs after an explosive powerplay started the chase strongly.

The Knight Riders reached 32-1 from their steady PowerPlay. Kycia Knight made a good start as she scored at just shy of a run a ball in the first six overs, however when she was dismissed by Erin Burns, the visitors fell from 36-2 to 73 all out.

Spin dominated for Matthews’ side as it had in their first match on Thursday, taking eight wickets for 54 runs, bowling 12.4 of the 16.4 bowled overs. Australian pairing Erin Burns and Amanda-Jade Wellington were the stars with 3/19 and 2/13, respectively.

The Royals in response got off to a fast start in the powerplay, the captain leading off with a quickfire 19, supported by Gaby Lewis on the back of a score of 47, reached a run-a-ball 27, the hosts surpassing 50 inside the PowerPlay.

Matthews’ side endured a setback as they three wickets for 11 runs between overs five to nine with Knight Riders’ spinners enjoying some consolation wicket taking, although it wasn’t enough to affect the result.

Barbados Royals are back in action for a third-consecutive match tomorrow, as they face Guyana Amazon Warriors in a repeat of the 2023 WCPL opener.

Player of the Match Taylor, who took 4-17, combined with Anisa Mohammed (3-24) and Shamila Connell (2-24) to bowl Pakistan Women out for 102.

Aliyah Riaz top scored with 29 and there were contributions from opener Muneeba Ali, who scored 18 and Nida Dar, who got 17, in what was Pakistan Women’s lowest score of the series.

Needing 103 for victory, the West Indies lost Hayley Matthews to the bowling of Anam Amin for 1.

Diana Biag then took the wickets of Deandra Dottin and Kyshona Knight in consecutive deliveries as the West Indies Women slipped to 17-3 after three overs.

Taylor and Chadean Nation stopped the rot with a stand of 41 that took the home side to 58 when Dar dismissed Nation for 20.

Taylor and Kycia Knight then put together an unbroken partnership of 48 that took the West Indies to victory with five balls remaining. Knight hit the first ball of the final over bowled by Dar to the boundary to seal the victory.

Biag finished with figures of 2-17 while Anam Amin took 1-18. Dar finished with 1-23.

The win meant that the West Indies Women swept the CG Insurance Series 3-0.

Shamila Connell was named Player of the Series

Batting first, the West Indies scored a paltry 174 all out from 49.2 overs. In reply, SAW cruised to 175-4 in 39.5 overs.

For the consecutive match, Kycia Knight top-scored for the West Indies with 48 while Deandra Dottin was once again among the runs with 36. However, the other West Indies Women, who were without captain Stafanie Taylor, failed to step up as only Shemaine Campbell and newcomer Mandy Mangru, with 15 each managed to get into double figures.

Shabnim Ismail was the spearhead of the South African attack with 4-44. There were two wickets each for Ayabonga Khaka (2-25) and Chloe Tryon (2-12) from just six overs.

South Africa’s victorious chase was led by Andrie Steyn who scored a solid 52 while Captain Sune Luus was once again among the runs with 47.

Anisa Mohammed was the best of the West Indies bowlers with 2-31 from nine overs.

Mohammed and Selman, both served as vice-captain during their careers which spanned 20 years and 18 years respectively. Mohammed made her debut for the West Indies Women in 2003 at the age of 15 against Japan Women in an ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier in the Netherlands. Her last match was against Australia Women in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in March 2022.

She played 141 One Day Internationals (ODIs) and 117 T20 Internationals (T20Is). She took 180 ODI wickets, with a career best of 7-14 against Pakistan. Additionally, she tallied 125 T20I wickets and in 2016 she became the first cricketer (male or female) to take 100 T20I wickets. She also has the distinction of being the first West Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in a Women’s T20I and was a member of the West Indies Women’s team, which won the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, India in 2016.

Mohammed, in her announcement, said the last 20 years of her career have been truly amazing.

“I have enjoyed every single minute of it. The highs and the lows. I believe the time has come for me to step away from the game and allow the young players to live their dreams as I have lived mine. I was privileged enough to step onto the field wearing my maroon 258 times in my career. I have represented West Indies in five (5) ODI World Cups and seven (7) T20 World Cups. To my fellow teammates, thank you for all the love and respect shown to me during my time with you. You'll have made my journey a memorable experience. I would also like to thank WI, coaches, managers, and medical staff for believing in me and always ensuring I was in the best possible place to represent the West Indies. To my fans, it has been an honor representing you over the last 20 years. The love, support, encouragement, and respect from you'll gave me the motivation to keep doing what love most," she shared.

Selman, who started her international career against Ireland Women in Dublin in 2008, quickly established herself as a key member of the West Indies Women’s team. She played 100 ODIs taking 82 wickets and 96 T20Is where she took 51wickets. Selman was also a member of the 2016 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup winning squad. 

In a heartfelt statement, Selman pointed out that the goal of her journey was to inspire others.

"This marks my final bow after 18 incredible years. I am proud of playing with and against legends, and lucky to have dismissed a few. My aim was always to inspire and assist others in their dreams. I owe immense gratitude to God, my supportive family and friends, and to CWI, my teammates, and the medical and management teams for their unwavering guidance. To the fans, your support has been my motivation. As I transition to the next phase of my career, I look forward to continuing to share my passion for the game in new ways," she said.

The Knight twins, Kycia and Kyshona made their debuts for West Indies Women in 2011 and 2013 respectively.

Kycia, a left-handed wicketkeeper/batter holds the record for the most dismissals in Women’s T20I innings with five, as well as the most stumpings in an innings of four, and tied for most catches in an innings also with four. She played 87 ODIs and amassed 1327 runs, complemented by her 70 T20I appearances in which she scored 801 runs.

Kyshona played 51 ODIs in which she scored 851 runs. That goes with her 55 T20Is appearances and 546 runs.

The Knight sisters in a joint statement said the memories of their respective journeys will be cherished. Both were also a part of the successful West Indies women's team that won the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup.

“As this marks the end of an enjoyable and amazing journey, we would like to take this time to thank our family, friends, teammates and supporters for the continued love and support throughout the years. None of this would’ve been possible without the support and love from you guys, and for that we are forever grateful. Lastly, thank you to CWI for the opportunities granted and memories that will be forever cherished," they said.

Meanwhile, CWI’s Director of Cricket, Miles Bascombe paid tribute to the four cricketers.

“Anisa, Shakera, Kycia and Kyshona have had all made significant individual impacts on women’s cricket the West Indies and the world. Their dedication, skill, and sportsmanship have not only elevated our team but also captivated cricket fans worldwide. Their legacies, as members of the title-winning ICC Women’s T20 World Cup squad of 2016 and individual milestones, will continue to influence and guide future generations to aspire to wear the Maroon," Bascombe noted.