ESPNcricinfo
A 146-ball 132 from Deandra Dottin and an all-around display from Hayley Matthews helped West Indies open their tour of Pakistan with a win. The duo’s 119-run stand took West Indies to 253 in the first ODI in Karachi, following which their bowlers struck at regular intervals to restrict the hosts to 208 for 9.
After being put in to bat, openers Dottin and Rashada Williams got off to a good start before the latter departed in the 12th over. Kyshona Knight, coming in at 3, then retired hurt in the 13th over without scoring a run. Captain Stafanie Taylor, the next batter in, did not stay much longer at the crease, making a 11-ball 6 following which Matthews then joined Dottin in the middle.
They kept the runs flowing, hitting boundaries regularly as Matthews brought up her half-century off 58 balls. It was soon Dottin’s turn to bring up her big milestone, as she got to her century off 124 balls.
“My plan was to occupy the crease long, watch the bowlers and see how the pitch was playing and just go from there,” Dottin said after the match. “Going through my mind was that I had to bat through the 50 overs or at least 40-45 overs in order for us to have a good total on the board after the two quick wickets fell… to be honest when I got to the half-century it was just to start fresh again (to get to the century) and get a high total for the team”.
It was Anam Amin who finally got the breakthrough, first removing Matthews in the 42nd over and then returning to send Dottin back in the 47th over. Amin and Fatima Sana did not allow the West Indies to score much in their last four overs. Amin then went on to dismiss Kycia Knight and Shemaine Campbelle – who contributed a 23-ball 20 – as she finished with 5-35, her best figures in the format. Fatima, meanwhile, dismissed Qiana Joseph and the returning Kyshona.
In reply, Pakistan lost their first wicket in the second over, with Sidra Ameen falling to Shakera Selman for 2. West Indies bowlers kept the top four quiet, making sure none of them crossed 30. Iram Javed (40 off 34) and Kainat Imtiaz stabilized things a bit with their half-century partnership for the fourth wicket but both fell to Matthews. Aliya Riaz at No. 6 then made a 61-ball 46 but found no support from the other end, with the asking rate soaring. Pakistan eventually fell short by 46 runs.
Summarized scores: West Indies 253 for 8 (Dottin 132, Matthews 57, Amin 5-35) beat Pakistan 208 for 9 (Riaz 46, Matthews 3-31) by 46 runs
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