West Indies Women have defeated New Zealand and England in their first two matches in the ICC Women’s World Cup currently underway in New Zealand. They have done so without significant contributions with the bat from two of their big three – Captain Stafanie Taylor and Deandra Dottin.
In their opening match against the hosts on March 4, the West Indies scored 259-9 thanks mainly to Hayley Matthews’ sublime 119. However, Dottin who opened the innings with her, made only 12 while Taylor scored 30.
In the second match against England on March 9, Dottin made 31 and Taylor 0 as the West Indies made 225-6. In that match that the West Indies dramatically won by seven runs, it was Shemaine Campbelle’s 66 and Chedean Nation’s unbeaten 49 that spurred the West Indies to their winning total.
However, despite the relative lack of runs from two of the big three, Head Coach Courtney Walsh said he was not overly concerned about the misfiring duo expressing confidence that they will eventually come good.
“In the two games we have played we have gotten competitive scores. Obviously, you would want to see Stafanie firing and a Diandra firing but if they can fire at the right time for us while Hayley and the others are carrying the batting, then that is good, so I am not much perturbed their chance will come and when it comes you want them to step up,” Walsh said during a media session Wednesday.
“So it’s good when the like of Campbelle and Nation can step up to the plate and prove their worth. I would like for Kycia Knight to get a decent score as well to give her some confidence. She came into the competition with some runs from the previous tour and in the warm-up games so I think she just needs a decent score to give her some confidence and if we can get that then the batting would be showing a lot more solidarity, but I am not overly concerned.”
What is troubling the fast-bowling great turned coach is the number of catches the West Indies Women have put down in their two matches so far. As many as nine catches have been floored by the Caribbean women, some of which have proved costly.
Chinelle Henry dropped New Zealand middle-order batter Sophie Devine early in her innings and the player capitalized in the best possible way scoring 108. Henry eventually redeemed herself when she caught Devine off her own bowling to pave the way for the West Indies' narrow three-run win.
Walsh admitted Wednesday that the number of dropped catches is a worry.
“I am a little more concerned about the number of dropped catches because can’t keep dropping so many catches, it might come back to haunt us and hurt us,” he said.
“We have taken some fantastic ones as well so we don’t want to write that off but I am a little more concerned about the catches we have been putting down; if it’s the conditions or we’re just not backing ourselves but I think the effort they have shown in yesterday’s game, even though we still put down a couple, it shows that they are still committed to trying to take these catches and I am happy with that.
“It might be a little bit cold on the fingers but we have to do what we have to do when we get out to play.”
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Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.
Wood and Mayers heroics lead Super Giants to victory over Capitals
Kyle Mayers and Mark Wood got their Indian Premier League campaigns off to brilliant starts as Lucknow Super Giants beat Delhi Capitals by 50 runs.
The Super Giants boasted the best performers with both bat and ball, as Mayers' 73 from 38 deliveries and Wood's 5-14 led them to a comfortable win on Saturday.
Lucknow's hopes were hit when key man and captain KL Rahul dismissed for 19 in the fourth over, and his replacement Mayers was hugely fortunate not to be sent packing on 14 when he was dropped by Khaleel Ahmed.
Mayers took advantage of that reprieve, plundering 59 more runs before finally succumbing to a peach of a delivery from Axar Patel that clipped the top of off stump.
Though that wicket slowed Lucknow's progress, they smashed 62 off the final four overs.
Delhi's chase got off to a fantastic start, racing to 33 for no loss off the first three overs, but a magnificent spell from Wood saw him dismiss Prithvi Shaw, Mitchell Marsh and Sarfaraz Khan to halt the Capitals' momentum.
Avesh Khan landed the hammer blow when he removed David Warner (56) with the Capital's captain caught by Krishnappa Gowtham.
Warner's men would tack on just 30 more runs, falling 50 short of the winning total as Wood sealed his five-for with the penultimate ball of the innings.
Mayers punishes Khaleel drop
The game could have been very different had Khaleel held on after Mayers tried to slog a slower ball from Chetan Sakariya.
Instead, the ball agonisingly hit the turf and Mayers went on to register two fours and seven maximums on his IPL debut, reaching his half-century after just 28 balls to truly exploit Khaleel's mistake.
Lightning quick pace from Wood halts Capitals' chase
A sublime couple of overs from Wood completely altered the momentum in Delhi's chase and put his team back in the ascendancy.
Wood's first game for Lucknow saw him earn player of the match honours.
Windwards Volcanoes beat Barbados Pride by 121 runs at Queen’s Park Oval
The Windward Islands Volcanoes completed a dominant 121-run win over the Barbados Pride on day four of their final round fixture at the Queen’s Park Oval on Saturday.
The Pride started the day 28-3 off 17 overs with Jonathan Drakes and Chaim Holder at the crease on nine and zero, respectively.
Drakes eventually went on to make a top score of 35 while Holder made nine and Kevin Wickham 11 as the Pride found themselves quickly on the back foot at 89-6 off 37.3 overs.
In the end, Kenneth Dember led the way with 5-26 off 13 overs as the Pride were dismissed for 114 in 47 overs.
Larry Edward finished with nine wickets in the match after taking 3-38 off 17 overs.
Sinclair takes 6-33 as Harpy Eagles produce spectacular final day comeback to defeat Hurricanes by 17 runs at Providence and secure West Indies Championship title
The Guyana Harpy Eagles find themselves at the pinnacle of regional first-class cricket once again after completing a stunning comeback on the final day of their final round fixture against the Leeward Islands Hurricanes at Providence to secure their sixth hold on the West Indies Championship title in eight years.
The Hurricanes entered day four in the driver’s seat, being 81-1 needing just 62 more runs for victory with nine wickets in the shed. Kieran Powell and Keacy Carty were the batsmen at the crease on 47 and 17, respectively.
The Leewards lost their first wicket of day four when Kevin Sinclair removed Carty for 21 before trapping Devon Thomas in front for a duck two balls later.
The Hurricanes then went on to lose their final seven wickets for just 17 runs as the Harpy Eagles completed a spectacular final day comeback.
Their efforts were led by Kevin Sinclair’s career-best figures of 6-33 off 16.5 overs while Veerasammy Permaul took 3-44 from his 15 overs.
The Harpy Eagles ended the campaign with 84 points, 9.8 points ahead of the Windward Islands Volcanoes in second.
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