All-round T&T beat Guyana by five wickets
… Barbados triumph by 99 runs over Leeward Islands

TRINIDAD and Tobago dished out an all-round performance to register an emphatic five-wicket win over Guyana in match two of Cricket West Indies (CWI) Women’s T20 Blaze yesterday at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.
The victory was first set up by a 68-run opening stand between player-of-the-match Stacy Ann King and Lee Ann Kirby, before Britney Cooper put the finishing touches in the run chase.

Earlier, captain Shemaine Campbelle did the bulk of scoring for the Guyanese to guide her team to a commanding 157 for 4 from their allotted 20 overs. However, the visitors reached the target, finishing 161-5 with eight balls to spare.
King struck a 48-ball 59, with three fours and a six while Cooper ended with an unbeaten 52 off 26 balls, counting eight fours and a six while Kirby made a 19-ball 31, with three fours and two sixes.

The 26-year-old Campbelle lived up to her reputation and was in her element, hitting an unbeaten 77 off just 56 deliveries, counting six fours and three sixes.
Deciding to bat first, the hosts got off to a flying start with openers Sheneta Grimmond and Tremayne Smartt scoring 29 runs in the first four overs – helped partly by some wayward bowling from the Trinidadians.

Smartt was the more subdued in the early overs, as Grimmond went after the bowling, especially medium-pacer Canesia Isaacs who conceded 16 runs in her first two overs.
The right-hander Grimmond had been flowing smoothly when she offered a simple return catch to off-spinner Anisa Mohammed (2-35), for a 17-ball 21, counting four boundaries.
Campbelle joined her Berbician counterpart, and kept the momentum going with a 40-ball 36-run second-wicket stand.

Change of bowling had worked well for the visitors with Lee Ann Kirby (1-22), effecting the second breakthrough that was desperately needed.
Smartt, who batted for a 27-ball 21, was cleverly stumped by Merissa Aguilleira while Shabika Gajnabi was run-out for seven, leaving the Guyanese 79-3.

However, Campbelle took charge soon after and her stand with Akaze Thomspon (11) lifted the hosts to 133 at the end of the 19 overs before she ended the innings with consecutive sixes to spoil Karishma Ramharack’s bowling figures.
At the start of the run chase the Guyanese women were mindful of their opponents’ batting prowess so there was no margin for error.

However, their bowlers were wayward up front. This allowed openers King and Kirby to achieve a solid start of 68 from their aggressive brand of cricket, in the powerplay overs.
The Guyanese soon struck a body blow when Thompson dismissed Kirby. The visitors were further reduced to 90-3 at the halfway stage when they lost Reniece Boyce (6), off the bowling of Smartt and Shania Abdool was run-out for two from a direct hit by Gajnabi.

With the required run-rate within reach, the right-handed King was joined by Cooper, who also played a solid knock, but the contest was as good as over, as the pair kept up the pressure on their opponents.
They stitched together a 58-run partnership to steer their team within nine runs of the victory target.

Meanwhile, Barbados easily overpowered their Leeward Islands counterparts by 99 runs in the first encounter.
Player-of-the-match Deandra Dottin made 62 off 23 balls, counting ten boundaries and three sixes; Hayley Matthews, 40 off 23 balls, with eight boundaries and a six while Charlene Taitt made 35 from only 25 deliveries to propel the Barbadians to 206-6. Amanda Edwards took 2-24.

Leedward Islands in reply limped to 107-5. Shebani Bhaskar hit an unbeaten 40 while openers Malissa Howard (15) and Shawnisha Hector (18), were the next best batters.
Matthews (2-21) was the most destructive of the bowlers. The tournament continues today with another three matches.

Guyana will play Leeward Islands from 09:00hrs, Trinidad & Tobago and Windward Islands clash from 14:00hrs while Barbados and Jamaica meet in the final game from 19:00hrs.