WICB Women’s cricket …
STEADY and controlled bowling from medium-pacer Roshana Outar (4-22) guided defending champions Jamaica to a comfortable 36-run victory over St Lucia in the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) women’s regional limited overs tournament at the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) ground yesterday.
Losing the toss and being asked to take first strike on a good batting track, Jamaica were bowled out for 211 off the final delivery of their 50 overs, but Outar and company had other ideas in mind when they bowled out their opponents for 175 from 49 overs in reply.
St Lucia began their reply disastrously losing both openers in Yasmine St Ange (1) and Tara Lewis (8) to be 17-2 in the seventh over and found the going tough against Outar, despite some lusty hitting from Maria David.
Verena Felicien, who top-scored with 46 and Swayline Williams (22) added 55 for the third wicket from 18.2 overs, before the latter was bowled by Vanessa Watts, but not before she had contributed two boundaries to her team’s total.
Pamela Alfred, 21 with two fours) joined Felicien and they brought up the St Lucians’ 100 in the 33rd over, before Alfred was caught by Karla Cohen off Watts and when Felicien, who struck four fours in her innings, was bowled by Roshana Outar, St Lucia were 118-5 in the 38th over.
David (35*) got into the act by hitting Watts over long on for the first maximum of the day, as she tried to single-handedly carry her team over the final hurdle, but she lost her captain Phillipa Thomas-Eudovic (3) and Heide Sandiford (3), both falling to Outar.
David counter-attacked with three fours, including an audacious drive past mid-on off the bowling of Outar; but she could only watch from the other end, as Jamaica’s skipper Herma Nathan-Dawes took a splendid one-handed catch to account for Rayline Cooper (9) at 158-8 in the 46th over.
St Lucia began the penultimate over on 170-8 but did not survive to see the final one bowled, as they lost Naralie Cooper (4) and Chameka Abraham (4) to Chadean Nation, leaving David who faced 35 deliveries whilst hitting four fours and the lone maximum of the innings, stranded at the other end.
Outar led the defence of her team’s target when she scalped 4-22 from six overs of gentle medium pace and received support from Nation (2-27) and Watts who took 2-43, whilst there was a wicket each for Peta Gaye Hanson and Cohen.
As was the scenario when they played Barbados in their first-round match, Jamaica, invited to take first strike, quickly lost the wicket of Jodian Morgan who was adjudged lbw to Alfred for two at 14-1 in the eight over.
Nathan-Dawes who failed to trouble the scorers in the Barbados match and was forced to retire hurt after passing her 50 in this one, was joined by Chedean Nation and together they took the score to 119-1 in the 31st over, before the former began to experience pains in her lower back.
Prior to retiring her innings, Nathan-Dawes had eased the shackles applied by the St Lucian opening bowlers in Eudovic (3-34) and Alfred (1-37), by hitting the former back over her head for the first boundary in the 11th over of her team’s innings.
She was given two lives by Felicien and Naralie Cooper off the opening bowlers and she responded by running Alfred past the slip cordon to the vacant third man boundary for four, followed by two more boundaries off the bowling of both Felicien and Cooper to push Jamaica to 50-1 in the 18th over.
Dawes reached her half-century, hitting four fours from 79 balls and when she was forced to retire hurt in the 31st over, she had added 105 from 22.1 overs with Nation on 37 and Jamaica 119-1.
Things went downhill for a brief period for Jamaica following their skipper’s retirement as Nation (43, 82 balls, 2×4) and the burly Tameka Sanford (1) to be 137-3 in the 37th over but some lusty hitting from Shanel Daley who scored a 26 off 49 balls and Chinelle Henry 20 (22 balls 4×4) weathered the storm for their team as their opponents’ fielding left much to be desired.
Eudovic took 3-34 including the wicket of Nathan-Dawes who had resumed her innings at the fall of Henry’s wicket, but only added five runs to her ‘retired’ total before going back to the comforts of the dressing room, via lbw.
There was a wicket each for Alfred, Felicien, Williams and David, efforts that proved to be insufficient for their team as they succumbed to the defending champions who easily recorded their second victory of the tournament.
Action will continue today, with host country Guyana looking to record their first win of the tournament when they oppose St Vincent at the Police Sports Club ground, while Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada will do battle at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground from 09:30 h.
