Ball dominated bat on a testing wicket under lights. The Royals were inserted after Warriors captain Lauren Winfield-Hill won the toss and Hayley Matthews’s side struggled to break the infield or find the boundary in the early stages. Matthews fell for just two runs off 13 deliveries, and the normally fluent Chamari Athapanthu used up 27 deliveries for her 15 runs before being pinned lbw by Chloe Tryon.
It was hard going throughout for the Royals in the face of tight bowling, with just 25 runs added in the PowerPlay and 33 on the board after the first ten overs. Erin Burns starred for the Warriors once again, this time with the ball in hand, as she returned figures of 3/31 off her four overs as the Royals reached a total of 101/8 off their twenty overs. Qiana Joseph top scored for the 2023 champions with 19 runs. The slow left-armer later pocketed 3/16 with the ball to cap a Player of the Match performance.
The Warriors found conditions equally as tough in their response. The Royals put the squeeze on and showed their class and composure in defending a small target. Once Erin Burns, the tournament’s top run maker, was dismissed by Athanpanthu to leave the warriors 44/5 in the twelfth over, the game drifted out of sight for Winfield-Hill’s side.
The Royals chalked up another win and look increasingly strong in this year’s competition, now it is a case of who they will meet in Thursday’s final with Trinbago Knight Riders and Guyana Amazon Warriors both tied on two points apiece. Deandra Dottin’s Knight Riders have the chance to secure their place in the final but will need to find a way of beating the undefeated and dominant Royals tomorrow night in order to do so.
Chasing a target of 131 in favorable batting conditions, the Warriors found themselves in early trouble at 15-2 after losing Natasha McLean and Stafanie Taylor within the first few overs. The pressure mounted as Jonassen and seamer Shikha Pandey applied the brakes, making run-scoring difficult in the powerplay.
However, Burns, alongside captain Lauren Winfield-Hill, who scored a solid 46 off 47 balls, steadied the ship with an unbroken 119-run partnership, the highest ever in the competition. The duo expertly navigated the tricky period, combining aggressive stroke play with calculated risk-taking, which paid off handsomely.
Burns, who was dropped twice during her innings, capitalized on those chances to anchor the chase. She reached her half-century off just 32 balls and continued to find the boundary with ease, particularly down the ground and through the leg side. Winfield-Hill played the perfect supporting role, rotating the strike and allowing Burns to dominate the innings.
Earlier, the Knight Riders posted a total of 130-6, a score that seemed competitive at the halfway mark. The team’s captain, Deandra Dottin, and Harshitha Samarawickrama laid a strong foundation with a half-century opening partnership. Samarawickrama, replacing the injured Meg Lanning, was particularly impressive, displaying elegant strokes and punishing anything short as she guided the team to 37-0 after the powerplay.
Despite the solid start, the Knight Riders' momentum stalled once spinner Chloe Tryon was introduced into the attack. Tryon, who finished with figures of 4-21, struck with her very first delivery, dismissing Dottin with a brilliant catch by Ashmini Munisar at gully. She then bowled Samarawickrama, who attempted a reverse sweep, and stifled the Knight Riders in the middle overs.
Jemimah Rodrigues and Jess Jonassen provided a late surge with a quick 44-run partnership, but Tryon once again swung the momentum in the Warriors' favor by removing Jonassen for 28 and then dismissing Kycia Knight in the penultimate over.
The Knight Riders' final total ultimately fell short, and the Warriors, despite the early hiccups in their chase, displayed their depth and resilience to record their first points of the tournament.
This victory will serve as a significant confidence boost for the Warriors as they look to build momentum in the competition. Both teams had entered this match desperate for a win after losing to the Barbados Royals in their opening fixtures, but it was the Warriors who emerged triumphant, thanks to Burns' heroics and Tryon's pivotal bowling performance.
