Defending champions Barbados Royals booked their place in the final of the 2024 Massy Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) with a 17-run victory over Guyana Amazon Warriors at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, Trinidad.

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.