West Indies opened their account by decimating Scotland within 12 overs in the T20 World Cup in Dubai. Afy Fletcher’s three-wicket haul and Chinelle Henry‘s all-round performance (1-10 & 18 off 10) set up the clinical victory by restricting Scotland to a merely 99 for 8 in their allotted 20 overs. Qiana Joseph’s 31 off 18 spearheaded what was a middling chase, before Deandra Dottin (28 off 15) and Chinelle Henry (18 off 10) finished the game off in haste. It was a win set up by the bowlers, as West Indies restricted Scotland to 99 for 8.
Chinelle Henry was named Player of the Match for her burst at the top of Scotland’s innings which yielded figures of 1 for 10, before her boundary-laden knock ensured a brisk victory. Despite some nervy movements with the bat as West Indies consistently lost wickets, a 42-run partnership off just 20 balls between Henry and Deandra Dottin brushed away any nerves. They also made up for the battering their NRR took after their 10-wicket defeat to South Africa two days ago.
Pitch and Toss
Pitch Report : Same surface as the previous game – 61m and 60m square boundaries, but the straight boundary is at 73m. This is a night game, it’ll be a different experience. If the afternoon game is anything to go by, the surface will be tacky and will bring the bowlers into play. Catching is an issue in night games here, it’s hard to pick the ball under the lights, that’s something teams will have to be careful about, reckon Natalie Germanos and WV Raman, in their pitch report.
Scotland Women skipper Kathryn Bryce won the toss and opted to bat with no changes in the Playing XI. West Indie skipper Hayley Matthews bowling first made two changes in the playing XI having Chedean Nation and Ashmini Munisar in place of Zaida James and Shamilia Connell.
Afy Fletcher’s 3 wicket haul restrict Scotland to 99 for 8 in 20 overs.
It was Scotland who won a delayed toss after the meeting between India and Pakistan on the same ground ran long earlier on Sunday. And Kathryn Bryce decided to bat first, following a trend in the early days of the tournament. But West Indies tied Scotland down in the first half of the opening innings, with Chinelle Henry standing out with four miserly overs, picking up 1/10 to leave Scotland on 45/2 at the midway point of their overs.
Both openers departed early in proceedings, with Henry bagging Sarah Bryce (2) and Deandra Dottin holding on to a catch off the bowling of skipper Hayley Matthews to remove Saskia Horley (11). A promising partnership between Kathryn Bryce (25) and Ailsa Lister (26) gave Scotland some momentum, but Afy Fletcher removed both set batters to expose the tail.
Late cameos from Lorna Jack-Brown (11) and Darcey Carter (14*) boosted the total, but Scotland closed their 20 overs on 99/8, leaving their bowlers with a lot to do in the second innings.
Scotland’s top-order batters failed to capitalize on their starts, with opener Saskia Horley managing only 11 runs off 9 balls before being dismissed by Chinelle Henry. Wicketkeeper-batter Sarah Bryce (2 off 7) was also dismissed cheaply, leaving Kathryn Bryce (25 off 31) and Ailsa Lister (26 off 33) to rebuild the innings.
However, with limited boundaries and a slow run rate, Scotland struggled to accelerate. Lower-order contributions from Darcey Carter (14 off 15) and Lorna Jack (11 off 11) pushed the total close to 100, but the team couldn’t find the explosive finish they needed.
West Indies’ bowlers were exceptional throughout the innings. Afy Fletcher was the standout performer, taking 3 wickets for 22 runs in her 4 overs, stifling Scotland’s batters with her accurate leg-spin. Chinelle Henry (1/10) and Hayley Matthews (1/21) also kept things tight, while Karishma Ramharack chipped in with a wicket and bowled economically, conceding just 24 runs in her 4 overs.
Scotland, having elected to bat started positively as Saskia Horley clinched a four each off Henry and Hayley Matthews in the first two overs. But, she fell to Matthews a few deliveries later, holing out to mid-on trying to beat the infield. Top scorer from the previous game for Scotland, Sarah Bryce, managed to score only two as she had her stumps rattled off Henry who bowled a wicket-maiden.
Alisa Lister was put down twice off successive deliveries. The batter continued to be bogged down by Henry in the following over as Scotland registered only 25 for 2 in the PowerPlay. Lister finally found the boundary in the eighth over against offspinner Ashmini Munisar.
Despite their poor fielding, West Indies never let Scotland break free, keeping tabs on the scoring rate. Lister was dropped once again by Henry at long-on this time. Lister’s run-of-luck ended when she holed out to deep-mid-wicket off Afy Fletcher. The bowler trapped Priyanaz Chatterji off the very next delivery to have Scotland at 62 for 4 in 13 overs.
Skipper Kathryn Bryce and Lorna Jack hit a boundary each before the former top-edged a sweep to mid-on, the third wicket for Fletcher. The Scots continued to tumble as Jack was run-out few balls later further denting their prospective total. Karishma Ramharack picked up two wickets in the last over as Scotland scampered to 99.
Scotland were 25 for 2 at the end of the powerplay, but it might have been much worse if not for West Indies’ profligacy in their catching. While the now infamous ‘ring of fire’ floodlights can be partially to blame, three chances of varying difficulty were spilt in the opening six overs.
Thankfully for the West Indies, Henry was putting on a clinic in swing bowling to make sure Scotland weren’t able to capitalize on their multiple lifelines. In her first over she had Sarah Bryce edging high to first slip, where Hayley Matthews could only palm over and she followed that up with two consecutive maidens – including a wicket maiden, where she had Bryce completely foxed by an outswinger that rattled her off stump.
Kathryn survived a tight lbw decision while Lister was dropped twice. They put these second chances to good use in stitching together a 46-run third-wicket stand. However at no point were either afforded easy runs.Their stand saw just one boundary scored, with both players forced to find the gaps and run hard between the wickets to keep the scoreboard ticking along.
It looked as if a platform might have been set for a late launch, but then the wickets began to fall. Afy Fletcher dismissed Lister and Priyanaz Chatterji in consecutive deliveries in the 13th over, before removing Kathryn in her next over. Scotland stumbled to 76 for five at the end of 15 overs, and they managed only a further 23 runs in the remaining five overs, as the West Indies refused to give an inch.
Chinelle Henry’s all round show gives WI easy victory over Scotland
In reply, Stefanie Taylor thick-edged one for four before she was bowled next ball. The sub-standard level of fielding continued as Qiana Joseph was dropped on one at mid-off. The batter smashed a six and a four straight down the ground off the next two overs, making the Scots pay. But Matthews had no such luck as her straight-batted punch went straight to mid-on. But an untidy over with eight wides and a boundary meant West Indies were still in the driving seat.
Olivia Bell took a good catch off her own bowling to dismiss Shemaine Campbell and Joseph across two overs to put West Indies back in a spot of bother at 59 for 4. But, Dottin and Henry smashed a four and a six after dismissing Joseph. Dottin sealed the chase with two sixes and a four off Abtaha Maqsood with 8.1 overs to spare.
Having restricted Scotland to just 99/8 in the first innings, West Indies went on the attack through Qiana Joseph, who slammed 31 (18) to put her team well ahead of the rate even while wickets fell on a tricky surface at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. And, even with four batters back in the hutch, West Indies still went on the attack, with Chinelle Henry dispatching a six over the rope early in her time in the middle, and Deandra Dottin joining in the fun with some huge hits.
Scotland’s bowlers picked up key wickets to give themselves a chance, but West Indies showed real attacking intent in a fascinating second innings in Dubai. Stefanie Taylor, moved up to open, fell in the first over when she was cleaned up by Rachel Slater for 4(3). And Scotland were jubilant when they bagged the prized wicket of Hayley Matthews (8) in the powerplay, with Kathryn Bryce holding on to a catch off Priyanaz Chatterji.
But a powerful effort from Joseph, who came in a spot lower at three, gave West Indies control, as she slammed 31 from 18 deliveries before becoming the second wicket to fall to Olivia Bell’s off-spin, who also dismissed Shemaine Campbelle (2). West Indies had time to ease to the win, but opted for a different approach and raced to their target in quick time as Deandra Dottin (28 from 15) and Chinelle Henry (18 from 10) sealed the win with 8.2 overs to spare.
If this tournament has shown anything, it’s not to judge a total or a pitch until both sides have batted. The other thing is that finding quick runs at the death is exceedingly difficult. Taking both these factors into account, West Indies opted to promote Qiana Joseph up the order after Stefanie Taylor had fallen early.
Joseph’s intent was clear from the get-go, swinging and missing at a series of deliveries off Bryce. But with such a low target, each blow had an exponential impact. In all, she struck three fours and a six, but her 18-ball stay had seen as much as 31% of the target wiped off.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Hayley Matthews the winning skipper said : First of all it does our NRR some justice. Starting with the ball as a group and restricting them to 99 was impressive. We probably could have kept them to an even lower score if we had fielded better, but still 99 is a solid effort. Qiana Joseph’s positive approach during the powerplay was crucial, and the way Chinelle Henry and Dottin finished off the innings was great.
We limited the boundary balls as much as possible, a lot of areas we can still improve on but the bowlers could bowl to their areas tonight. [on the NRR situation] It was discussed if we got to a secure position, we wanted to target that, I wanted to stay but unfortunately couldn’t get going, saw the positivity from Qiana when she came in and it was great to see Deandra and Chinelle get on out there.
Just take it one game at a time, we have got Bangladesh next at Sharjah, an important fixture with the way the wickets are playing there. First we need to look at the Bangladesh game and then it is England for us last. Two important games as we look for a semi-final spot.
Kathryn Bryce the losing skipper said : It was a good performance in the field, we felt we were in the game in the second half. With the firepower they have got, to clear the ropes like that, makes it tricky. With a low total like that you need to take every opportunity, even half chances and it gave the other side momentum.
Pretty tricky out there, Henry bowled fantastically up top, getting shape on the ball, it was hard to find the boundaries and getting 120 would have been a pretty good total on that pitch. [message to her players] It’s trying to give them as much knowledge as possible, also about allowing them to play their natural game. The wickets are different from what we have been playing on, it is a big learning curve and it will give them a good experience going forward.
Chinelle Henry Player of the Match for her all round display said : I just want to thank my team-mates and coaches for continuously believing in me. I got the ball to swing and that was the key, when I went to bat, I and Dottin felt that we needed to attack and score at a fast pace.
We had a clear plan, backed our skills and kept bowling straight. We’ve been working on our batting. Hayley is a world-class batter, when she fails to turn up, we’ve enough batters in the arsenal. Congrats to Qiana Joseph, she went and did the role she was sent to do.
In the end West Indies with a commanding win. They kept losing wickets and it threatened to get trickier for them but Dottin and Chinelle Henry ensured that it was not the case. A flurry of boundaries from the duo and they have chased down 100 in 11.4 overs. Will do their NRR a world of good which had taken a beating after the heavy loss to South Africa in their opening game. Qiana Joseph came in at 3 tonight and after a couple of swipes and misses, got going and muscled the ball to set the pace.
Scotland kept taking wickets to keep the interest alive but that was extinguished by the unbeaten duo. West Indies were under pressure going into this game tonight but this performance should give them a lot of confidence going forward. And they have won without a significant contribution from their talisman Hayley Matthews which just underlines how good a team effort this was.
West Indies get on the board and have now jumped to top spot in Group B courtesy their thumping win. After four double-header days in a row, we will have a single-header tomorrow with England taking on South Africa. West Indies romped to a six-wicket victory over Scotland to secure their first win of the T20 World Cup in Dubai with 50 balls to spare.
The win boosted their net run rate to 1.154 and they’re now on the top of Group B table. The result leaves Scotland with two defeats in as many games, though the margin of defeat could prove even more dire to their qualification chances.