Coach Walsh pleased with growth of Women’s A Team despite defeat
CG Insurance 50-over match
West Indies Women A vs Pakistan Women A
Venue: Coolidge Cricket Ground
Result: Pakistan A won by 7 wickets
SEE SCORECARD HERE https://www.windiescricket.com/matches/208220/#scorecard
West Indies Women ‘A’ had another tough day as they lost to Pakistan Women ‘A’ in the final match on Friday. Sent in, the hosts rallied to 204 all out in the 48th over with Qiana Joseph top-scoring with 48, Sheneta Grimmond making in with 40 and Rachael Vincent and Shabika Gajnabi both scoring 22.
The home team looked to be gunning for a bigger total when Joseph and Grimmond inspired key half-century stands. With their side on 45-2 in the 10th over, Joseph hit eight fours off 56 balls in a 53-run third-wicket stand with Zaida James (11) while Grimmond counted seven fours off 48 balls to help post 57 for the fifth wicket with Gajnabi.
Coasting on 170-4, Gajnabi and Grimmond perished in successive overs to spark the home side’s swift decline. New ball seamer Aimen Anwar (3-22) and off-spinner Saba Nazir (3-53) claimed three wickets apiece as West Indies Women ‘A’ lost their last six wickets for 34 runs.
In reply, right-hander Aliya Riaz hit an unbeaten 63 off 77 balls as the visitors chased down their target. Javeria Rauf struck 43 from 71 balls with four fours in a 66-run opening stand with Ayesha Zafar whose 36 came from 44 balls with seven fours. Off-spinner Grimmond was the best bowler with two for 24 with her off-breaks.
Captain Sidra Nawaz hit 28 not out in a match-winning 80-run, unbroken fourth-wicket stand with Riaz who hit eight fours in an entertaining knock.
Head Coach Walsh told CWI Media,
“It’s the first time they’ve played together as a team… so I was pretty pleased the way they went about it and the effort they put in. It’s a learning process, some of them have never played for quite a while or at all, there were a lot of debutants in both T20 and 50-overs, so this gives us a chance to analyse and improve. It was good for the experience and exposure for them.”
He added:
“It was very pleasing having so many players in the camp. From a coach’s perspective, it is very pleasing because we can look at them, have a look at them in competitive situations, it gives us a wider scope of what to look for and how we can help to educate them through the learning process.