(CMC) – Stafanie Taylor suffered a failure but her Tornadoes still did enough to beat Barmy Army by four wickets, dealing her West Indies teammates Deandra Dottin and Shemaine Campbelle heartbreak in the second semi-final of the FairBreak Invitational Tournament.
Chasing 142 at Dubai International Stadium, Tornadoes were carried by openers Sophie Devine (37) and Sterre Kalis (34) in an opening stand of 73, while Sune Luus chipped in with a vital 26.
West Indies captain Taylor, who was also leading Tornadoes, made only 12 after being run-out by wicketkeeper Campbelle.
Barmy Army had earlier posted 141 for six with Campbelle scoring 31 from 30 balls, captain Heather Knight also getting 31 and Rumana Ahmed top-scoring with an unbeaten 35 batting at number seven.
In the final, Tornadoes will now take on Falcons who beat Spirit by 25 runs in yesterday’s first semi-final.
Sent in, Barmy Army found themselves three down for 30 runs in the sixth over, Dottin the first to fall when she holed out to deep mid-wicket for seven in the third over from Pakistan pacer Diana Baig (2-32).
But Campbelle combined with Knight in a 46-run, fourth-wicket stand to revive the innings, the Guyanese stroke-maker lashing two fours and two sixes and the English star punching four fours in a 25-ball knock.
They fell within 17 balls of each other with ten runs added, Knight losing her middle stump to seamer Chanida Sutthiruang and Campbelle beaten in flight by left-armer Sita Rana Magar and stumped in the 16th over.
Rumana arrived to lash four fours and two sixes in a 15-ball cameo, adding 46 for the sixth wicket with Fatima Sana (21), to give Barmy Army a rousing end to their innings.
In reply, Devine and Kalis all but killed off Barmy Army’s hopes of a win with their dominant opening stand – the New Zealander hitting four fours and two sixes and the Dutch right-hander stroking five fours in a patient 41-ball knock.
Both fell in a spell that saw three wickets go down for 26 runs, Taylor also perishing when she advanced too far out of her crease in search of a sharp single and failed to beat Campbelle’s throw.
South African Luus put the game to bed, however, blasting three fours and a six in a 19-ball knock while posting 34 with Aliya Riaz (14), as Tornadoes romped into the final.