TAURANGA, New Zealand- West Indies Women’s recorded another sensational nail-biting victory when they overcame Bangladesh Women by four runs in a last-over thriller to win their third game of the ICC Women’s World Cup.
Defending their 140-9 after Shemaine Campbelle’s unbeaten 53 rescued the innings at Bay Oval, West Indies restricted the Bangladeshis to 136 all out with three balls to spare. Off-spinner Hayley Matthews adjudged Player-of-the-Match, emerged as the hero with 4-15 from 10 excellent overs while leg-spinner Afy Fletcher snatched 3-29 in her first appearance of the showpiece global event and second One-Day International in 19 months since giving birth to her first child.
It was off-spinning captain Stafanie Taylor, with 2-29, who stepped up to bowl the final over with Bangladesh requiring eight runs for victory. In the process, she picked up her 150 ODI wicket for West Indies.
“I think just looking at it (total) everyone were pretty much ‘no, we didn’t get enough runs on the board,’” Matthews said afterward. “We definitely need to be doing better in that aspect but at the same time, I think taking the wickets knowing that it (pitch) was quite slow, was holding a bit of turn in it [was important]. We knew that we could have gone out there and defended the runs once you bowled the right areas. “ Matthews added: “Keeping the stumps in play was very, very important and I think we managed to do that quite well. But at the same time, we’re definitely going to need to do better with the bat if we’re going to have any chance at this World Cup.”
Asked to bat, Matthews put on 29 for the first wicket with Deandra Dottin who made 17 before nicking a backfoot drive at seamer Jahanara Alam and falling to a catch behind in the ninth over. Her dismissal saw West Indies Women lose seven wickets for 41 runs to slip to 70-7 in the 36th over. The key wickets of Matthews – pulling a sharp chance to short mid-wicket off left-arm spinner Nahida Akter (2-23) in the 13th over and Taylor for four – bowled around her legs in the 15th by Nahida – left the innings in trouble.
Campbelle stepped up with her second half-century of the tournament, however, repairing the innings with a knock that lasted 107 balls and included five fours. She put on 32 for the eighth with Fletcher (19) and a further 39 for the ninth with Karishma Ramharack (7 not out), to carve out precious runs towards the end.
West Indies Women will take on Pakistan at Seddon Park on March 21 in a day/night encounter. First ball is at 2:00pm (March 20, 9:00pm Eastern Caribbean Time/ 8:00pm Jamaica Time).
Full scorecard here https://www.windiescricket.com/match-centre/
Tournament points standing here:https://www.cricketworldcup.com/standings
FULL SQUAD
Stafanie Taylor (Captain)
Anisa Mohammed (Vice-Captain)
Aaliyah Alleyne
Shemaine Campbelle
Shamilia Connell
Deandra Dottin
Afy Fletcher
Cherry Ann Fraser
Chinelle Henry
Kycia Knight
Hayley Matthews
Chedean Nation
Karishma Ramharack
Shakera Selman
Rashada Williams
Travelling Reserves
Kaysia Schultz
Mandy Mangru
Jannillea Glasgow
West Indies Women ICC Cricket World Cup Match Schedule
** Date and time in brackets, indicate match times for Caribbean fans due to the 17-hour time difference between New Zealand and the Caribbean
February 27: Warm-up Match 1 vs Australia at Lincoln Green, Lincoln, 11 am (February 26, 6 pm Eastern Caribbean Time/5 pm Jamaica Time)
March 1: Warm-up Match 2 vs India at Rangiora Oval, Rangiora, 11 am (February 28, 6 pm Eastern Caribbean Time/5 pm Jamaica Time)
March 4: vs New Zealand at Bay Oval, Tauranga, 2 pm (March 3, 9 pm Eastern Caribbean Time/8 pm Jamaica Time)- West Indies Women won by 3 runs
March 9: vs England at University Oval, Dunedin, 11 am (March 8, 6 pm Eastern Caribbean Time/5 pm Jamaica Time)- West Indies Women won by 7 runs
March 12: vs India at Seddon Park, Hamilton, 2 pm (March 11, 9 pm Eastern Caribbean Time/8 pm Jamaica Time)- India won by 155 runs
March 15: vs Australia at Basin Reserve, Wellington, 11 am (March 14, 6 pm Eastern Caribbean Time/5 pm Jamaica Time)- Australia won by 7 wickets
March 18: vs Bangladesh at Bay Oval, Tauranga, 11 am (March 17, 6 pm Eastern Caribbean Time/5 pm Jamaica Time)- West Indies Women won by 4 runs
March 21: vs Pakistan at Seddon Park, Hamilton, 2 pm (March 20, 9 pm Eastern Caribbean Time/8 pm Jamaica Time)
March 24: vs South Africa at Basin Reserve, Wellington, 11 am (March 23, 6 pm Eastern Caribbean Time/5 pm Jamaica Time)
March 30: Semi-final 1 at Basin Reserve, Wellington
March 31: Semi-final 2 at Hagley Oval, Christchurch
April 3: Final at Hagley Oval, Christchurch