An unbeaten half-century from captain Shemaine Campbelle lifted Guyana to a crucial eight-wicket win over defending champions Jamaica in their Cricket West Indies (CWI) Women’s T20 Blaze match on Thursday.
The stylish right-hander made 50* from 49 balls including five fours and shared an unbroken third wicket stand of exactly 100 with allrounder Shakibi Gajnabi, as the Guyanese successfully chased 110 in the opening match of the triple-header at Warner Park, St Kitts.
Gajnabi supported well with 37 not out from 46 balls and the result was achieved with 12 balls remaining, giving Guyana their third win of the tournament.
Earlier in the day, fast bowler Celina Whyte took 2-11 from her allotted four overs – removing Sheneta Grimmond for six and fellow opener Katana Mentore for two but Campbelle and Gajnabi combined to dominate.
When Jamaica batted captain Stafanie Taylor led the way again with 48 off 49 balls with five fours and one six, as the Jamaicans reached 109-6 from their 20 overs after they won the toss and chose to bat.
Taylor added 55 for the second wicket with Keneshia Ferron (20) and put on 32 for the third wicket with Natasha McLean (27), but their effort was never going to be enough to seriously challenge Guyana. Seam bowler Cherry-Ann Fraser was the pick of the bowlers with 3-18 from three overs.
In the day’s second encounter, Trinidad & Tobago secured a six-wicket win over the Leeward Islands.
Divya Saxena (37) and Jahzara Claxton (36) led the way for the Leewards as they made 120-5 off their 20 overs batting first.
Off-spinner Anisa Mohammed took a pair of wickets in her four overs while conceding only 21 runs while Kirbyina Alexander took 2-15 from three.
Trinidad & Tobago then reached 121-4 with 14 balls to spare thanks to a solid all-round batting effort including contributions from Shunelle Sawh (26), Britney Cooper (21*), Shalini Samaroo (20) and Anisa Mohammed (19*).
The day’s third game saw Super 50 champions Barbados score a dramatic four-wicket win over the Windward Islands off the last ball of the match.
Qiana Joseph led the way with a run-a-ball 50 while Malika Edward contributed 20 as the Windwards posted 128-8 off their 20 overs.
Pacers Shamilia Connell and Allison Gordon led the way with the ball for Barbados with 3-16 and 2-20 from their respective four over spells.
The successful Barbados chase was then led by the Knight sisters with Kycia getting 49 at the top of the innings and Kyshona getting 19* including the winning runs. Naijanni Cumberbatch also contributed a crucial 22 as Barbados ended up 121-6 off their 20 overs.
Zaida James took 2-27 from her four overs for the Windwards.
With one round of matches left, Guyana and Barbados are currently level on 12 points with Barbados at the top via head-to-head record. They are followed by the Windwards (8), Trinidad & Tobago (8), Jamaica (8) and the Leewards (0).
On Saturday, Jamaica will take on the Windward Islands, Barbados will face the Leewards and Guyana will face Trinidad & Tobago.