ST. JOHN’S, Antigua- West Indies Women secured a thrilling one-run victory over New Zealand Women in the first T20 International at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
Batting first, Aaliyah Alleyne joined Hayley Matthews in the middle after Natasha McLean departed without scoring and 1 run on the board. Alleyne then took charge of the run-scoring as she looked like a woman on a mission, taking the odd boundaries that New Zealand offered up, but more importantly she seized the opportunities of quick singles or twos to keep the scorecard ticking.
Matthews departed for 15 (23:1×4) then Nation for 2(7), with wickets falling around her Alleyne soldiered on. But on 49 and within touching distance of her maiden T20I half-century, she chucked an Amelia Kerr delivery onto her stumps. Rashada Williams added a quick 15 (18:2×4) and Chinelle Henry a run-a-ball 10, as the West Indies posted 115 all out in 20 overs. Amelia Kerr was the pick of the New Zealand bowlers finishing with figures of 4-0-16-3, followed by Fran Jonas with 4-13-2.
Suzie Bates the leading runs-score in Women’s T20Is opened the batting with her skipper Sophie Devine and the pair looked set to overhaul the home team’s score. Devine, as usual, was the aggressor of the pair. Chinelle Henry continued her run-of-form and produced a beauty that struck Bates straight in front of the stumps, Bates departed for 5 (5:1×4). Devine then clobbered six and two fours on her way to 23 of 18 before she became Henry’s second scalp. After it, it was a steady tumble of wickets for the White Ferns. Needing 20 off the last over Hannah Rowe took 17 runs off Aaliyah Alleyne to remain on 27 not out (21:2×4, 1×6) but it was not enough, even with a wide. Chinelle Henry finished with figures of 4-0-26-3 followed by Afy Fletcher with 4-0-18-2. New Zealand finished their innings on 114/9 in 20 overs.
Player of the Match Chinelle Henry said,
“The coaches told us to go out there and be fearless. We wanted more than 115 but that didn’t happen, so we went out there as a bowling unit to get the job done. Going into the second game, we’re obviously looking to improve in both batting and bowling. To see Aaliyah going out at number three and almost getting her maiden T20I half-century showed that we have a lot of depth in the squad, so it’s just for us to keep up that team performance.”
Both teams meet on the weekend for the 2nd and 3rd T20Is, Saturday, October 1 at 10:00 am and Sunday, October 2 at 1:00 pm.
Fans can now purchase tickets for any of the matches at tickets.windiestickets.com, the official Windies Tickets service presented by Mastercard. For all matches, adults can purchase general admission tickets online at US$5, with free admission for children under the age of 16 when accompanied by a paying adult. Seniors benefit from half-price tickets. The stadium ticket office will open on the day of the rescheduled first CG United ODI with printed tickets available for EC$15/US$5. There will also be a Kids Fun Zone during the second and third T20 Internationals, where the younger fans can enjoy a bouncy castle, face painting, and other exciting activities.
All eight matches will be streamed live in the Caribbean on ESPN Caribbean’s “ESPN Play” app and will be available around the world with some of CWI’s broadcast partners and on the Windies Cricket YouTube channel. Live ball-by-ball scoring will also be available on the www.windiescricket.com Match Centre.
West Indies squad for 1st and 2nd T20Is
Hayley Matthews (Captain)
Shakera Selman (Vice Captain)
Aaliyah Alleyne
Afy Fletcher
Cherry-Ann Fraser
Shabika Gajnabi
Sheneta Grimmond
Chinelle Henry
Kyshona Knight
Natasha McLean
Chedean Nation
Karishma Ramharack
Rashada Williams
FULL MATCH SCHEDULE
All matches will be played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium
CG United ODI Series
Monday 19 September: 1st CG United ODI, 9:30 am Eastern Caribbean/8:30 am Jamaica Time – New Zealand won by 5 runs via the DLS method
Thursday 22 September: 2nd CG United ODI, 9:30 am Eastern Caribbean/8:30 am Jamaica Time – New Zealand won by 2 wickets
Sunday 25 September: 3rd CG United ODI, 9:30 am Eastern Caribbean/8:30 am Jamaica Time – West Indies won by 4 wickets
T20I Series
Wednesday 28 September: 1st T20I, 1:30 pm Eastern Caribbean/12:30 pm Jamaica time- West Indies won by 1 run
Saturday 1 October: 2nd T20I, 10:00 am Eastern Caribbean/11:00amm Jamaica time
Sunday 2 October: 3rd T20I, 1:30 pm Eastern Caribbean/12:30 pm Jamaica time
Wednesday 5 October: 4th T20I, 10:00 am Eastern Caribbean/9:00 am Jamaica Time
Thursday 6 October: 5th T20I, 1:30 pm Eastern Caribbean/12:30 pm Jamaica time