Women ready to explode Inaugural regional THE 6IXTY cricket bowls off today

BASSETERRE, St Kitts (CMC):

THE BARBADOS Royals, Guyana Amazon Warriors, and Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) are going into the Women’s SKYEXCH 6IXTY today with “balanced” teams featuring international stars they hope will help them win the inaugural tournament.

The seven matches in the fast-paced 60-ball contest will all be played here at Warner Park, with the final set for August 28.

Stafanie Taylor will lead an Amazon Warriors squad that includes Sri Lanka Women captain Chamari Athapaththu, who has made six international hundreds with an ODI high score of 178, South African seam bowler Ayabonga Khaka, and 16-year-old Isani Vaghela who has represented the US national team.

The former West Indies Women captain said the team was looking forward to benefiting from the skill and experience of Athapaththu, who has played in almost 200 internationals; and Khaka, who has a T20 International bowling average of 24.02 and an economy rate of 6.43.

“Watching Khaka over the years and what she’s been doing for South Africa, she’s been doing really good work and that will definitely help in our bowling department…and hopefully she gets some wickets under her belt as well,” Taylor said.

As for having Athapaththu among her batters, the captain said: “I think that’s a big one for us at the top order, definitely bolster the batting, and we look forward to her giving us a good start and hopefully win us a title.”

The Amazon Warriors captain said she was looking forward to the tournament, stressing that her squad would have to be tactical, given the limited batters in the competition. Under the rules of THE 6IXTY, each batting team has just six wickets.

“So you have to make sure that all your batters get that opportunity to face as many deliveries as possible,” Taylor stressed. “I think it’s going to be exciting. We look forward to it.”

Anisa Mohammed, TKR’s vice-captain, like Taylor, believes her team has a good mix.

“We have power hitters, we have good bowlers on our team, and we have a lot of players with a lot of experience under their belt, so we’re really hoping that will be enough to help us get over the line in this tournament,” she said.

Among the TKR’s overseas players are New Zealand seam bowler Hayley Jensen who has played for both Melbourne Renegades and Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash in Australia; South Africa Women’s captain Sune Luus, a spin bowling all-rounder; and US international medium pacer Geetika Kodali, who was impressive at the recent Fairbreak T20 tournament in the United Arab Emirates.

“For some of our younger players who have not played on the West Indies team, to be able to share the same dressing room as these international players is a big deal,” Mohammed said.

“I’m really hoping that they can learn something from these players and that they’ll be able to improve on their game and someday make it on to the West Indies team and be able to represent at the international level.”

Speaking specifically about Jensen, who has 75 international caps, and Luus, with 17 fifties and four five-wicket hauls at the international level, the Trinidadian added: “They’re really calm but good players. We’re really hoping that they’ll be able to make big impact on this tournament and hopefully help TKR. They’re really superstars in their countries and we’re really excited to have them on our team.”

She said the unique rules of the tournament will make the competition interesting, specifically the PowerPlay and Mystery Fan Ball.

Each batting team has two PowerPlay overs and can unlock the third PowerPlay by hitting two sixes in the first 12 balls. Additionally, fans will vote for the timing of a Mystery Fan Ball where a batter can’t be dismissed by the bowler.