TAUNTON, England, CMC – West Indies Women again gave further proof that bowling will be their strength, but batting will be the key to their success, when they won their second and final warm-up match ahead of the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Championship against Sri Lanka Women yesterday.
Stacy-Ann King hit the top score of 48 from 25 balls and Stefanie Taylor struck 30 from 43 balls, as the West Indies Women were dismissed for 121 in 19.5 overs in their match at King’s College.
Pacers Kirbyina Alexander and Deandra Dottin then snared two wickets apiece to help restrict the Sri Lankans to 81 for eight from their allocation of 20 overs, and hand the Caribbean women a psychological boost ahead of the start of the competition.
But batting will clearly be a serious problem for the West Indies Women, after they crumbled to 51 for seven in the 14th over.
Taylor had held the top half of the batting together, but she was run out in the 13th over, and it took a 54-run stand for the eighth wicket between King and Dottin to revive the West Indies Women’s chance.
The last three wickets – including King and Dottin – fell for 16 runs in the space of 12 balls.
The West Indies Women’s bowlers then put Sri Lanka Women under early pressure, when they reduced their opponents to 18 for five in the seventh over, and never relented, despite a late flurry from Deepika Rasangika with 21 and Eshani Kaushalya with 20.
The West Indies Women face South Africa Women in the opening match of the inaugural Women’s World Twenty20 Championship tomorrow at the Somerset County Ground.
