West Indies defeated Sri Lanka by four wickets in a low-scoring thriller at the Western Province Cricket Club in Cape Town Wednesday.

Skipper Hayley Matthews top-scored for the West Indies with 46 off 48 deliveries and which included four fours and a six, as the team chased a target of 108.

Matthews shared an opening stand of 45 with Shabika Gajnabi (17). Chinelle Henry then lashed 16 not out off 14 balls to lift the tempo as the victory came with two balls to spare.

Bowling for Sri Lanka Kaveesha Dilhari and Malsha Shehani each had figures of 1-11.

Sri Lanka batted first and Aaliyah Alleyne had Sri Lanka Captain Chamari Athapaththu trapped leg-before in the second over.

Sri Lanka benefitted from a 32-run partnership between Nilakshi Silva and Anushka Sanjeewani that helped them to 107 all out in 20 overs.

Matthews picked up two wickets in the final over to finish with figures of 4-0-17-3. Afy Fletcher supported with 2-12.

“It was good to have a decent all-round performance today from a personal perspective,” said Matthews afterwards.

“From a team aspect, I think the bowlers did a fantastic job to restrict them to 107. As we know they’ve got a couple batters who can really fire up. We still have areas to improve on, but the win will no doubt give us a boost heading into our first official match against England on Saturday.”

The West Indies will take on England Women on Saturday, February 11 at Boland Park in Paarl. First ball is at 3pm (9am Eastern Caribbean/8am Jamaica). The two teams are drawn in Group 2 alongside England, India, Pakistan and Ireland.

The eighth edition of the marquee event will begin on February 10 with hosts South Africa taking on Sri Lanka.

West Indies Match Schedule

February 11…West Indies Women v England, Boland Park, Paarl, 3pm (9am Eastern Caribbean/8am Jamaica)

February 15…West Indies v India, Newlands, Cape Town, 3pm (9am Eastern Caribbean/8am Jamaica)