Luck was definitely a part of the West Indies women team’s Twenty/20 super over victory over Pakistan last Sunday night at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.
The West Indies women’s team won the match by three runs in the super over finale after they had leveled the score at the end of their 20 overs reply.
The West Indies women won the toss and asked the Pakistan women team to take first strike.
The move seemed to be the correct one when the WI women claimed their first wicket after only two balls immediately pushing Pakistan on the back foot with the score on zero for one.
The Pakistan players found to difficult to adjust to the early loss of a wicket and they not only found it hard to score against the excellent field set by WI captain, Merissa Aguilleira but they kept losing wickets at crucial intervals.
The Pakistan players only found the boundary board twice with a four and a six off the bats of Sana Mir and Asmavia Iqbal respectively.
The West Indian women bowled with superb accuracy which was backed up by some fine fielding which helped to keep Pakistan players from freeing their arms especially towards the end of the innings. Pakistan eventually finished on 72 for nine off 20 overs.
Shanel Daley maintained her bowling form as she once again proved too difficult to deal with picking up three wickets for nine runs off four overs.
With the WI team seemingly on their way to another dominant victory, fortunes for the home side took a turn.
The hard-hitting Deandra Dottin and Kylia Knights opened the batting for WI with the intention of finishing the match and going home early but as fate would have it this was not as easy as they seemingly thought it would be.
Pakistan struck early removing both Dottin and Knights with the score on 14 and reviving their hopes of an unlikely win.
Juliana Nero then walked to middle with hopes of rebuilding the innings only to find her shot over the top of the point region being snatched out of the air by A. Iqbal off the bowling of Marina Iqbal.
That wicket seemed to swing the momentum Pakistan’s way.
It was rough sailing for the WI women after that stunning left handed catch and nerves began to appear.
The West Indies team continued to lose wickets at regular intervals and it came down to the final over where WI needed four runs from two balls with the score on 69 for nine. But the West Indies players Pearl Etienne and Tremayne Smartt could only muster three runs from the penultimate delivery bowled by Sadia Yousuf.
With all the Pakistani fielders in to save the single, Smartt took strike for the final delivery but only managed a thick edge which flew into the hands of Qanita Jalil sending the match into the super over.
Mir once again bowled economically for Pakistan as she picked up three wickets for 11 runs off four overs while Yousuf and Jalil picked up two wickets apiece.
“Well we feel really good and we’re very happy, there are definitely areas that we need to work on and that will come in time, there was a little tension at the end and we just wanted to keep our calm,” West Indies women’s team captain Merissa Aguilleira stated after the match.
”They (Pakistan) went out there with a positive attitude and it was very well done and I wish them well,” she added after receiving the Series trophy at the presentation ceremony held immediately after the match.
Daley received the Player of the Match and Player of the Series award at the presentation ceremony.
