Barbados Royals finished the 2023 Massy Women’s Premier League (WCPL) season as champions after they wrapped up an eight-run final win against the Guyana Amazon Warriors on Sunday.

After topping the group stage with two wins over the Warriors and a win and a loss over previous winners Trinbago Knight Riders, the Royals claimed the second ever WCPL title at Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad.

Having lost the toss and being put into bat for the first time, the Royals posted 169-7 with Captain Hayley Matthews finding a big score at the right time before being slowed down in the final few overs keeping the Warriors in hope of a result.

In response, competition top scorer Sophie Devine could only manage a start before some tight bowling restricted the run rate required, leaving the Warriors short.

Gaby Lewis got the Royals off to a firing start before falling side the PowerPlay with a score of 37-1 after six overs.

Matthews prevailed through the middle overs putting on the first century partnership of the competition with Rashada Williams. The Warriors clawed back the Royals, restricting them to 32-6 from the final five overs.

After early struggles for wickets, Shabnim Ismail showed her quality with 4-30, picking up the wickets of all the Royals top four batters.

Guyana Amazon Warriors, in similar fashion to the Royals, had an important middle over partnership after making the most of the PowerPlay, with Suzie Bates and Shemaine Campbelle putting on 60.

The Royals’ bowlers did enough with the ball to restrict run rate enough to deny the Warriors despite some late hope given by Natasha McLean with a 17-ball 28, including taking 16 runs from the 17th over.

Matthews was at the forefront once again in key moments with McLean being run-out off Matthews’ bowling at the non-striker’s end with some misfortune in her dismissal combined with some brilliant reactions from the Barbados captain.

Royals bowlers were economical as they have been throughout the competition with overseas star Amanda-Jade Wellington, in particular, starring with 4-23, including 3-2 in the penultimate over when the Warriors required 23 from 12 balls.

Campbelle’s brilliant unbeaten knock of 47 was in vain as Matthews was able to defend 21 off the final over despite Ismail’s cameo giving the Royals a late scare.

Scores: Barbados Royals 169-7 (Matthews 82, Williams 36; Ismail 4-30, Patil 1-25) beat Guyana Amazon Warriors 161-8 by eight runs

The Barbados Royals kept their unbeaten record thanks to Erin Burns producing a great half-century in the 2023 Massy Caribbean Premier League (WCPL).

In the WCPL’s final match in Barbados for 2023, the Amazon Warriors won the toss and batted first as they did in their last fixture, ending in a similar fashion to the opener between these same teams last Thursday.

In much similarity to their opener, a strong Powerplay of 51-0 set the visitors on their way before a rebuild led by some big hitting from Natasha McLean got them to a competitive total.

Run rate was never an issue in reply to 146 for the Royals but with wickets falling frequently Burns’ resistance was required to win the game; late partnerships with the lower-order flipped the match in their favour, finishing the chase in the final over.

In a near-carbon copy of the opening match of the 2023 WCPL with Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates leading off the first innings in a similar fashion to that of Thursday night. Hayley Matthews used seven different bowlers inside the opening eight overs, searching for the all-important breakthrough.

The Kiwi pair put on 74 for an opening stand before Amanda-Jade Wellington produced the perfect leg-spinner's delivery to dismiss Bates for 30 in a pick-of-the-bowlers spell of 1-21.

With Devine looking set for another half-century, the Amazon Warriors’ innings was setback to a restart when Devine fell to a good catch in the deep by Aaliyah Alleyne with the score at just 78.

After persisting against a long list of spinners from the Royals, the visitors were able to rebuild with McLean leading the way with three sixes in her 26-ball 38, helping the Warriors to 146-4.

In reply, Matthews and Laura Harris got starts once again for the Royals; the latter scoring all 18 of her runs from sixes before being dismissed by the experience of Shakera Selman featuring for the first time with the ball in the 2023 edition.

With wickets falling frequently through Selman and Patil, the Royals were 75-5 from 10 overs and the match was in the balance. Burns’ timely knock when wickets fell around her continued the Australian’s remarkable form in the WCPL, knocking off the final 30 runs in 14 balls, winning the match with four balls to spare in an unbeaten 42-run partnership with Wellington.

Guyana Amazon Warriors face up to Trinbago Knight Riders next as the tournament moves on to Trinidad.

Scores: Barbados Royals 147-7 (Burns 53*, Matthews 22; Patil 4-34, Selman 2-15) beat Guyana Amazon Warriors 146-4 (Devine 42, McLean 38; Burns 2-32, Wellington 1-21) by three wickets.

Barbados Royals made light work of chasing 74 to stay unbeaten from their opening round of fixtures in the Massy Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) at Kensington Oval, Barbados.

After chasing a record 167 two days ago in their opener, Hayley Matthews’ side made the most of their chances against the Trinbago Knight Riders.

The visitors were without their captain and most experienced international Deandra Dottin and exciting new overseas Orla Prendergast for their opening match of their WCPL defence.

Trinbago Knight Riders never got going with the bat despite winning the toss and opting to bat first, with only one player reaching double figures as the side capitulated to 73 all out.

The Royals didn’t hang around in their pursuit of the total knocking off 74 for four wickets inside 11 overs after an explosive powerplay started the chase strongly.

The Knight Riders reached 32-1 from their steady PowerPlay. Kycia Knight made a good start as she scored at just shy of a run a ball in the first six overs, however when she was dismissed by Erin Burns, the visitors fell from 36-2 to 73 all out.

Spin dominated for Matthews’ side as it had in their first match on Thursday, taking eight wickets for 54 runs, bowling 12.4 of the 16.4 bowled overs. Australian pairing Erin Burns and Amanda-Jade Wellington were the stars with 3/19 and 2/13, respectively.

The Royals in response got off to a fast start in the powerplay, the captain leading off with a quickfire 19, supported by Gaby Lewis on the back of a score of 47, reached a run-a-ball 27, the hosts surpassing 50 inside the PowerPlay.

Matthews’ side endured a setback as they three wickets for 11 runs between overs five to nine with Knight Riders’ spinners enjoying some consolation wicket taking, although it wasn’t enough to affect the result.

Barbados Royals are back in action for a third-consecutive match tomorrow, as they face Guyana Amazon Warriors in a repeat of the 2023 WCPL opener.

West Indies Captain Hayley Matthews played a starring role to help the Welsh Fire defeat the Southern Brave by four runs in their Women’s Hundred fixture at the Rose Bowl in Southampton on Friday.

Matthews hit a 38-ball 65 including 13 fours to help the Fire post 165-3 from their 100 balls after being inserted by the Brave.

The Fire also got solid contributions from Georgia Elwiss (28) and Captain Tammy Beaumont (26).

Then, despite an opening partnership of 96 between Smriti Mandhana and Danni Wyatt, the Southern Brave were restricted to 161-4 off their 100 balls.

Mandhana ended up 70* off 42 balls while Wyatt made 67 off 37 balls. Mandhana hit 11 fours while Wyatt hit 10 fours and two sixes.

Alex Griffiths took 2-26 from her 20 balls while Matthews took 1-35 from her 20 deliveries for the Fire.

Hayley Matthews produced a spell of magic with bat and ball on Saturday to lead the West Indies Women to an eight-wicket win over Ireland Women in the third T20 international to sweep the series 3-0 at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground.

Batting first, Ireland looked intent on posting their highest total of the series with beautiful stroke play from Amy Hunter and Orla Prendergast. The pair shared in a 66-run partnership for the second wicket when Hunter was runout for 44 off a deflection of Ashmini Munisar’s fingers.

Prendergast was caught in the deep by Shabika Gajnabi off the bowling of Afy Fletcher for 40.

Rain interrupted Ireland’s innings twice before they finished on 116-9 from their 20 overs.

Matthews saved her best bowling performance of the series for her final over when she took the wickets of Rebecca Stokell 0, Arlene Kelly 0 and Ava Canning 0 in consecutive deliveries to become only the third West Indies Women’s player to take a T20I hat-trick.

She finished with figures of 4-14 while Cherry-Ann Fraser took 2-19.

During the chase, Djenaba Joseph was caught behind for two in the second over, then Matthews and Aaliyah Alleyne took over the run-chase.

The pair smashed 12 boundaries between them as they raced to the 117-run target. Matthews was closing in on her second consecutive half-century when she was bowled by Georgina Dempsey for 48 off 34 deliveries.

Chinelle Henry joined Alleyne in the middle and the pair took the West Indies Women to victory in 18.1 overs. Allyene and Henry were unbeaten on 49 and 13, respectively, as West Indies Women finished on 120-2 for an emphatic victory that pleased the team’s captain.

“I am pretty pleased. Coming into the series, anytime I put on my West Indies shirt I try to go out there and do really well, whether that be batting, bowling or fielding,” said Matthews who was voted Player of the Match and Player of the Series after taking eight wickets and scoring 135 runs for the series.

“I’m just happy I was able to contribute to the team win. It was great to see some of the younger players getting the opportunity this series and coming into their own. We’ve had debutant players perform really well. We’ve had Chinelle Henry get her maiden ODI half-century then back it up with a second one (in the series), then two not outs in the T20 series.”

Looking ahead, Matthews thanked the women she leads for their support.

“I just want to thank all the girls who have supported me since I’ve become captain. Thank you for backing me up out on the field, we have bigger challenges ahead and I look forward to their support.”

The West Indies Women took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match T20 International series when they defeated Ireland Women by eight wickets at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground on Thursday night.

Winning the toss and batting first, Ireland posted 113-7 in their 20 overs. Amy Hunter led the scoring with 33 from 35 deliveries with skipper Laura Delany adding a valuable 20 for the tourists.

Cherry-Ann Fraser led the West Indies bowlers with figures of 1-16 and Captain Hayley Matthews taking 1-24.

Once again, Matthews led from the front with the bat during the run-chase, bringing up her eighth T20I half-century before being dismissed on exactly 50 off 39 deliveries.

Shabika Gajnabi scored 17 in a supporting role to her captain and Chinelle Henry smashed a full toss for six and three boundaries to finish on 22 off 12 as the West Indies Women reached the 114-run target in 16.4 overs.

“I think we’re pretty happy with the result,” said Matthews, who was Player of the Match.

“Coming into this tour we wanted to be able to take home both series, so just very happy that we were able to go out there and win convincingly today and secure the T20I series.

“We had more intent going out today and we noticed early on that the wicket was a bit better on today and we went out with the intent to chase down the runs quicker. What really helped us today was the fielding, the catches and run outs we were able to take, kudos to the overall team for the bowling performance they put on and the fielders for backing them up.”

The teams will meet on Saturday, July 8 for the final T20I. First ball is at 5pm local time (4pm Jamaica time).

A strong all-round performance from Captain Hayley Matthews helped the West Indies Women pull off a thrilling two-wicket victory over Ireland in the first T20 International at the Darren Sammy Cricket Ground in St Lucia on Tuesday.

The win means the Caribbean women take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Batting first, Ireland were restricted to 112-7 in their 20 overs, thanks to economical and accurate bowling by Matthews, who took 3-22 from her four overs and Cherry-Ann Fraser, who returned figures of 2-22.  Debutant Ashmini Munisar took 1-16.

Ireland captain Laura Delany top-scored with 34 and got support from Eimear Richardson with 22.

In pursuit of 113, the West Indies lost wickets regularly which slowed their scoring and forced it down to the last ball for a result.

Matthews led from the front with a top score of 37. Afy Fletcher added a valuable 19 when the game looked like it was slipping away from the home team but Vice-Captain Shemaine Campbelle guided the team to a final ball single and take victory.A

Speaking after the match, Matthews said, "A lot of nerves coming down to the end but still a lot of positives we can take from today’s game. We did a good job restricting Ireland to 112 on a really good batting wicket. Personally, I was happy to contribute to the win. Ashmini Munisar, making her debut, how economical she bowled and taking her first wicket was one of the positives and it’s a good sign for the future.”

The West Indies Women will be looking to go 2-0 up in the series when the teams meet again at the same venue on Thursday, July 6.

Barbados Women’s won all five of their matches to be crowned champions in the CG United Women’s Super50 Cup for 2023. Playing in the final round against Leeward Islands on Wednesday, the Bajans bowled out the hosts for 74 and then reached the target of 75-3 to record an easy seven-wicket victory at Warner Park.

Barbados captain Hayley Matthews was one of the tournament’s leading performers and said it was a joy to win their fourth consecutive 50-overs regional title. She showered praise on her team-mates.

“We had high expectations so it was really good that we could have a good start to the tournament and finish it with a really good win. Throughout the tournament, we had performances and contributions from everyone which was very pleasing. The juniors were given an opportunity to come through and find their game and they did exactly that. I’m very happy with the way the seniors and junior came together to win the title,” she said.
In the other matches on Wednesday: Trinidad and Tobago Red Force Divas defeated Guyana by 76 runs at St Paul’s Complex to end in second place, while Jamaica beat Windward Islands by eight runs in a close contest at Conaree.

The players will now switch to the T20 Blaze tournament which starts on Saturday at Warner Park.

MATCH SCHEDULE

CWI T20 Blaze (Round 1-4 to be played at Warner Park)

Round 1: Saturday 20 May

Windward Islands vs Guyana – 10am

Leeward Islands vs Jamaica – 2:30:pm

Trinidad & Tobago red Force Divas vs Barbados – 7pm

Round 2: Sunday 21 May

Windward Islands vs Leeward Islands – 10am

Guyana vs Barbados – 2:30pm

Jamaica vs Trinidad & Tobago Red Force Divas – 7pm

Round 3: Tuesday 23 May

Trinidad & Tobago Red Force Divas vs Windward Islands – 10am

Jamaica vs Barbados – 2:30pm

Guyana vs Leeward Islands – 7pm

Round 4: Thursday 25 May

Jamaica vs Guyana – 10am

Leeward Islands vs Trinidad & Tobago Red Force Divas – 2:30pm

Barbados vs Windward Islands – 7pm

Round 5: Saturday 27 May – 8am

Leeward Islands vs Barbados – Warner Park

Trinidad & Tobago Red Force Divas vs Guyana – St Paul’s

Jamaica vs Windward Islands – Conaree

Hayley Matthews scored an magnificent hundred in an all-round performance to lead Warriors Women to victory and the title over Falcons Women in the Fairbreak Invitational Tournament in Kowloon on Sunday.

The West Indies Women’s captain was adjudged Player of the Match for her 123 and 2-14 that spurred her team to a 94-run win. Batting first, Warriors Women scored 230-4 from their 20 overs. In reply, Falcons Women could only muster 137-8.

Matthews, who was last out, smashed 11 fours and nine sixes during her knock that lasted 52 balls.

After Matthews’ dismissal in the 15^th over, Kathryn Bryce then lashed an unbeaten 52 and Captain Sindhu Sriharsha 25 in an unbroken stand of 75 that took Warriors Women to their imposing total. Price’s runs came from just 20 balls and included eight fours and two sixes.

Anju Gurung was the best of the Falcons Women bowlers taking 2-43 from her four overs.

Faced with a daunting task of scoring more than 11 runs an over, Falcons Women were steady in the chase but were always behind the required rate.

Chamari Athapaththu (29), Danni Hyatt (20), Captain Suzie Bates (25) and Theertha Satish (29), all got starts but were unable to carry on. No other batter got into double figures as Matthews and Bryce (3-16) did the damage to keep their side ahead of the game and eventually to a comprehensive victory.

Warriors Women lost only once during the tournament.

The Mumbai Indians are champions of the inaugural season of the Tata Women’s Premier League after a seven-wicket win over the Delhi Capitals at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.

The Capitals, who advanced to the final after finishing top-of-the-table in the league phase, made 131-9 off their 20 overs after winning the toss and batting first.

Captain Meg Lanning led the way with 35 while Shikha Pandey and Radha Yadav each made 27*.

Hayley Matthews was magnificent with the ball for Mumbai, picking up three wickets in her four overs while conceding only five runs. Issy Wong also continued her wicket-taking form with 3-42 from her spell.

The successful Mumbai chase took 19.3 overs and was anchored by Nat Sciver-Brunt, who finished not out on 60 off 55 balls including seven fours. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur made a 39-ball 37 in support as the Indians reached 134-3.

Sciver-Brunt was named player of the match while Matthews, who ended the season with 271 runs and 16 wickets, was named player of the tournament.

Her run total placed her fifth overall behind Lanning (345), Sciver-Brunt (332), Talia McGrath (302) and Kaur (281) while her 16 wickets were joint-most alongside Sophie Ecclestone.

Nat Sciver-Brunt scored an unbeaten 72 to lead the Mumbai Indians to the final of the inaugural Women’s Premier League after a 72-run win over the UP Warriorz in the eliminator at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Mumbai on Friday.

The Indians batted first after losing the toss and posted 182-5 in their 20 overs.

Sciver-Brunt’s knock 72* lasted only 38 deliveries and included nine fours and two sixes.

Amelia Kerr and Hayley Matthews also made valuable contributions with 29 and 26, respectively, against 2-39 from Sophie Ecclestone.

The Warriorz reply was a tame one as Kiran Navgire, with 43, was the only meaningful contributor as they were bowled out for 110 in only 17.4 overs.

Issy Wong led the way with the ball for the Indians with 4-15, including a hat trick, while Saika Ishaque took 2-24 from 2.4 overs.

The Mumbai Indians will now play the Delhi Capitals in the final at the Brabourne Stadium on Sunday.

The UP Warriorz secured a five-wicket win over the Mumbai Indians in the Women’s Premier League on Saturday.

The Warriorz won the toss and elected to field first at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Mumbai.

West Indies captain Hayley Matthews led the way with 35 while Issy Wong scored 32 and Mumbai Indians skipper Harmanpreet Kaur 25 as the Indians were bowled out for 127 in their 20 overs.

Sophie Ecclestone led the way with the ball for the Warriorz, taking 3-15 from her four overs while Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Deepti Sharma took 2-16 and 2-35 from their respective four over spells.

The successful chase was then led by Grace Harris’ 28-ball 39 while Talia McGrath got 38 as the Warriorz reached 129-5 in 19.3 overs to secure their third win out of six games to move to third in the table behind Mumbai, who lead the table only having one loss in six games, and Delhi who have two losses in their six outings.

Amelia Kerr was the best Mumbai bowler on the day with 2-22 from her four overs while Hayley Matthews, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Issy Wong all took a wicket each.

Scores: Mumbai Indians 127 off 20 overs (Hayley Matthews 35, Issy Wong 32, Harmanpreet Kaur 25, Sophie Ecclestone 3-15, Rajeshwari Gayakwad 2-16, Deepti Sharma 2-35)

UP Warriorz 129-5 off 19.3 overs (Grace Harris 39, Talia McGrath 38, Sophie Ecclestone 16*, Deepti Sharma 13*, Amelia Kerr 2-22).

The Mumbai Indians maintained their perfect record through five matches in the inaugural season of the Tata Women’s Premier League with a dominant 55-run win over the Gujarat Giants at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday.

Mumbai captain Harmanpreet Kaur led the way with an elegant 30-ball 51 to help her side post 162-8 off their 20 overs after the Giants won the toss and chose to field first.

Opener Yastika Bhatia also batted well for her 44 against Ashleigh Gardner’s 3-34 from four overs.

The Giants chase started in the worst way possible as English star Sophia Dunkley was dismissed by Sciver-Brunt with the first ball of the innings.

Harleen Deol and Sneh Rana both played fighting innings of 22 and 20, respectively, but the Giants chase never gathered momentum and saw them eventually be reduced to 107-9 off their 20 overs.

Sciver-Brunt ended her four over spell with 3-21 while Matthews took 3-23 off her four overs.

Scores: Mumbai Indians 162-8 off 20 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 51, Yastika Bhatia 44, Nat Sciver-Brunt 36, Ashleigh Gardner 3-34) Gujarat Giants 107-9 off 20 overs (Harleen Deol 22, Sneh Rana 20, Nat Sciver-Brunt 3-21, Hayley Matthews 3-23, Amelia Kerr 2-18)

West Indies Captain Hayley Matthews produced another fine all-round display to help the Mumbai Indians defeat the Delhi Capitals by eight wickets in their Tata Women's Premier League match at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Mumbai on Thursday.

The Capitals were restricted to 105 all out off 18 overs after winning the toss and batting first.

Captain Meg Lanning led the way with 43 while Jemimah Rodrigues made 25 as English pacer Issy Wong took 3-10 from her four overs.

Left-arm spinner Saika Ishaque bowled three overs for her 3-13 while Matthews took her second consecutive three-wicket haul with 3-19 from her four overs.

With the bat, Mumbai needed just 15 overs to reach 109-2 and secure their third straight dominant win.

Yastika Bhatia top-scored with a 32-ball 41 including eight fours while Matthews made 32 off 31 balls including six fours.

Scores: Delhi Capitals 105 off 18 overs (Meg Lanning 43, Jemimah Rodrigues 25, Issy Wong 3-10, Saika Ishaque 3-13, Hayley Matthews 3-19) Mumbai Indians 109-2 off 15 overs (Yastika Bhatia 41, Hayley Matthews 32, Nat Sciver-Brunt 23*).