West Indies Women salvage pride with six-wicket victory over Sri Lanka
Key Points(5)
- Captain Hayley Matthews and her deputy, Shemaine Campbelle, delivered stellar performances with the bat as the West Indies Women salvaged some pride from their tour of Sri Lanka by beating the hosts by six wickets in the final Twenty20 International Friday.
- Chasing a target of 142 at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, the Caribbean side achieved victory with a ball to spare, thanks to a solid 49 from Matthews and an unbeaten 41 from Campbelle.
- Requiring six runs from the last over, Campbelle and Chinelle Henry (four not out) managed to level the scores with three deliveries before Henry's single off the fifth ball secured the win.
- Campbelle's fluent innings, featuring three fours and two sixes in a rapid 30-ball knock, earned her Player-of-the-Match honors.
- <h2><b>Dismissed by the second ball of the contest</b></h2> Earlier, Sri Lanka Women posted 141 for seven from their 20 overs after being sent in to bat.
Captain Hayley Matthews and her deputy, Shemaine Campbelle, delivered stellar performances with the bat as the West Indies Women salvaged some pride from their tour of Sri Lanka by beating the hosts by six wickets in the final Twenty20 International Friday.
Chasing a target of 142 at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, the Caribbean side achieved victory with a ball to spare, thanks to a solid 49 from Matthews and an unbeaten 41 from Campbelle.
Requiring six runs from the last over, Campbelle and Chinelle Henry (four not out) managed to level the scores with three deliveries before Henry's single off the fifth ball secured the win. Campbelle's fluent innings, featuring three fours and two sixes in a rapid 30-ball knock, earned her Player-of-the-Match honors.
Dismissed by the second ball of the contest
Earlier, Sri Lanka Women posted 141 for seven from their 20 overs after being sent in to bat. Captain Chamari Athapaththu top-scored with 38, Harshitha Samarawickrama chipped in with 28, and Kavisha Dilhari contributed 26.
The home side recovered from the early loss of opener Vishmi Gunaratne (2), who was dismissed by the second ball of the contest. Athapaththu and Samarawickrama steadied the innings with a 55-run, second-wicket stand. Athapaththu struck three fours and as many sixes in her run-a-ball knock, while Samarawickrama hit four fours in her 26-ball stay.
Left-arm spinner Afy Fletcher (2-25) broke the partnership by removing Samarawickrama with a return catch in the 10th over. Athapaththu then added 34 runs for the third wicket with Dilhari, who belted four boundaries in her 26-ball innings.
A period of instability
A period of instability followed, with three wickets falling for just 11 runs. However, Ama Kanchana (19 not out) and Nilakshika Silva (12) rallied the innings with a 31-run, sixth-wicket stand late on.
The new opening experiment of Matthews and her predecessor Stafanie Taylor paid off, with the pair posting 60 runs for the first wicket. Player of the Series Matthews struck five fours in her 40-ball knock, while Taylor faced 30 balls and hit four fours and a six.
Taylor was eventually leg before wicket to spinner Dilhari at the end of the eighth over, but Matthews and Campbelle added a further 51 runs for the second wicket, keeping Sri Lanka Women on the backfoot.
