KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica will meet in the Final to be crowned the inaugural champions of the Regional Women’s Twenty20 Tournament today at Sabina Park.
This followed the seventh and final round of preliminary matches which were played yesterday here.
Gaitri Seetahal followed up more powerful T&T batting – led by West Indies Women’s pair of Amanda Samaroo and Britney Cooper – to usher her side to a demoralising, 170-run defeat of Dominica.
Shanel Daley led Jamaica’s steady, if not menacing attack, as they completed a 51-run victory over Grenada to set up the showdown with their main rivals.
Shaquana Quintyne put in a tidy all-round performance to help Barbados limp to a five-wicket victory over St. Vincent & the Grenadines.
Guyana captain June Ogle gave further evidence of her temperament, carrying her bat for another half-century, to pave the way for her side to clinch a 59-run victory over St. Lucia.
The results meant that three teams finished the tournament at the top of the ladder with 30 points, but T&T held a superior net run rate of +3.34.
The Jamaicans finished with a net run rate of +2.59, edging out Barbados, whose final net run rate was +2.14.
Guyana finished fourth with 20 points, ahead of SVG on 15, Grenada with 10, St. Lucia on five and winless Dominica without a point.
Apart from the Final in the afternoon, Sabina Park will host the Consolation Final between Barbados and Guyana for third and fourth places in the morning.
About a kilometre or two away, Kensington Park will stage the Minor Playoff between St. Lucia and Dominica in the morning for seventh and eighth places, and the Consolation Playoff between SVG and and Grenada for sixth and seventh places.
The RWT20 Final will be a repeat of last year’s Regional Women’s Super50 Tournament in Barbados, which was won by Jamaica.
T&T scraped a last-ball, one-wicket victory over the Jamaicans in the fourth round of matches in this tournament at Chedwin Park.
They will be looking to win again, proving this was no fluke, and confirm their nation as the Twenty20 capital in the regional competition.
T&T’s men are the reigning Caribbean T20 champions and are currently preparing for the Champions League T20 to be staged next month in South Africa.
Seetahal grabbed 4-7 from her four overs and Felicia Walters snared 2-8 from 3.1 overs, as Dominica, chasing 210 for victory, were dismissed for 39 – the second lowest total in the tournament so far – eclipsing their own mark from two days prior.
Walters formalised the result with 11 balls remaining, when she had June Jno Baptiste caught behind playing defensively forward.
No Dominica batter reached 20 and there was a collective sigh of relief when they surpassed 29, the total for which they were dismissed in their previous match against hosts Jamaica, ranking as the lowest total in the tournament so far.
Samaroo, a wiry opener, had struck eight fours in the top score of 98 from 67 balls and Cooper supported with seven fours and one six in 54 from 29 balls, as T&T amassed 209 for three from their 20 overs, after they chose to bat in the morning match at Kensington Park.
The pair added 107 for the third wicket, after T&T had been launched by a stand of 97 for the first wicket between Samaroo and Stacy Ann King.
King made 30 from 22 balls, but fellow West Indies Women’s player Deandra Dottin was run out for three, as T&T stumbled to 100 for three in the 11th over before Samaroo and Cooper imposed themselves.
Samaroo reached her 50 from 31 balls with a top-edged cross-batted stroke to short third man for a single and Cooper needed four less deliveries to reach her landmark with a drive to deep cover for two.
Samaroo became the third run out victim for T&T off the penultimate delivery of the innings, trying to get closer to the milestone, as Dominica slid to their seventh straight loss.
Left-arm spinner Daley formalised Jamaica’s place in the Final, when she collected 3-9 from her four overs, and Roshana Outar continued to bowl impressively, taking 2-9 from her four overs, as Grenada, chasing 122 for victory, failed to do any damage to the home team’s chances in the afternoon match at Chedwin Park.
Grenada captain Afy Fletcher continued to carry her side, leading the way with 26, and Carena Noel with 14 was the only other player to reach double figures.
Jamaica, sent in to bat, never got into high gear, but their captain Stafanie Taylor and fellow opener Jodiann Morgan set things up with an opening stand of 73.
Morgan gathered the top score of 36 and Taylor made 27, as the Jamaicans reached 121 for seven from their 20 overs.
Quintyne was the pick of the Barbados bowlers with 3-8 from her four overs and her captain Shakera Selman bagged 2-2 from 1.4 overs, as SVG, electing to bat, were bowled out for 71 in 18.3 overs in the afternoon match at Kensington Park.
West Indies Women’s player Juliana Nero was the backbone of SVG’s batting with 38, but no other player reached double figures.
The Barbadians started the chase briskly, knowing full well they had to score quickly to enhance their chances of reaching the Final ahead of Jamaica.
But they lost the wickets of Kycia Knight, Pamela Lavine and Kyshonna Knight cheaply inside the first five overs, stumbling to 26 for three, and they chose discretion as the best part of valour, preferring to secure the win ahead of the Championship spot, leaving Quintyne with 17, Selman 14 not out and Anika White with 13 to usher them over the finish line.
Ogle collected just two boundaries in an unbeaten 58 from 62 balls and West Indies Women player Shemaine Campbelle added 40 from 36 balls that included four fours, as Guyana, opting to bat, posted 117 for three from their 20 overs.
The pair featured in a second wicket stand of 78 that was the highlight of the morning match at Chedwin Park.
Guyana’s bowlers – led by Joann Vansertima and Prudence Williams with two wickets apiece – then strangled St. Lucia’s scoring, restricting them to 58 for seven from their 20 overs.
No St. Lucia batter reached double figures, as they slid to their sixth straight defeat.
