KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Stafanie Taylor continued to grab the headlines, scoring the first hundred ever in the Regional Women’s Twenty20 Tournament, as Jamaica inflicted a crushing, 172-run defeat on Dominica yesterday here.
Guyana captain June Ogle kept her nerve and carried her bat to guide her side over the finish line in a nail-biting three-wicket victory over St. Vincent & the Grenadines in the sixth round of matches.
Felicia Walters followed up another powerful Trinidad & Tobago batting performance with a tidy spell of off-spin to help the Red Force land a comfortable 117-run victory over neighbours Grenada.
And Kycia Knight failed to follow in the footsteps of Taylor and narrowly missed out on a hundred, still laying the foundation for an emphatic 45-run victory for Barbados over St. Lucia.
The result meant that three teams are topping the standings on 25 points each, but Trinidad & Tobago with a superior net run rate of (+2.91) are the tournament leaders followed by hosts Jamaica (2.58) and Barbados (2.35).
Guyana are fourth on 15, the same number of points as SVG, but they have a better net run rate of 0.80, while Grenada are sixth on 10 points, followed by St. Lucia on five and Dominica are rooted at the bottom winless, without a point.
Taylor, the World Player-of-the-Year nominee, smashed 14 fours and one six in an undefeated 114 from 66 balls, as Jamaica amassed the highest total of the tournament so far of 201 for three from their 20 overs, after deciding to bat in the first match at Chedwin Park.
Roshana Outar then returned the impressive figures of f 4-4-0-4 with her steady medium-fast bowling and off-spinner Vanessa Watts grabbed 3-3 from three overs, condemning Dominica to 29 all out in 16.2 overs.
Taylor reached her 100 from 62 balls, putting on 94 with West Indies Women team-mate Shanel Daley for the second wicket and 70 with Natasha McLean for the third wicket.
Daley scored 39 and McLean made 18, as the Jamaicans eclipsed T&T’s 180 for six against St. Lucia from the previous day and 181 for four against Grenada at the same time.
The Dominicans lost two wickets before they had passed 10 before Outar and Watts worked their way through the remainder of the batting.
None of the Dominican batters reached 10, as the Jamaicans put themselves back in the frame to reach the Final on Saturday at Sabina Park.
Ogle struck four boundaries – two from the last two deliveries of the match – in the top score of 44 not out from 53 balls, as the Guyanese hit the jackpot against SVG in the afternoon match at Kensington Park.
The Guyana captain inched most of the way, but the equation came down to Guyana needing 11 from the final over.
Ogle – dropped in the closing stages by her opposite number Cordel Jack – gave her side victory with two pulls for boundaries into the long-on corner, where unsuspecting fielders were undone by the uneven outfield.
Two wickets apiece for Subrina Munroe, Shemaine Campbelle and Joann Vansertima helped Guyana dismiss SVG, who opted to bat, for 87 in 19.2 overs.
Jack led the way with 30, Juliana Nero made 15 and Sheree Ann John added 10 for SVG, whose batting let them down.
Walters grabbed 3-10 from her four overs, as Grenada, chasing 182 for victory, were restricted to 64 for eight from their 20 overs in the morning match at Kensington Park
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Debbie Ann Lewis hit the top score of 21 for the Grenadians and her captain Afy Fletcher supported with 19, but none of the other batters could carry their momentum, as Walters and the T&T attack strangled the run rate.
West Indies Women’s player Deandra Dottin gave T&T’s batting a boost with three fours and two sixes in a typically, whirlwind 44 from 17 balls.
She added 71 for the third wicket Britney Cooper, as T&T eclipsed their previous highest total of the previous day.
Cooper made 41 and opener Amanda Samaroo the same score, putting on 66 for the second wicket, as T&T stamped their authority, after choosing to bat.
Knight made 93 from 67 balls that included 11 fours and one six, as Barbados reached 179 for three from their 20 overs in the afternoon match at Chedwin Park.
Knight, promoted to open, was bowled by chunky fast-medium bowler Chemeka Abraham, after she put on 52 for the first wicket with veteran Pamela Lavine and 115 with her twin sister Kyshonna that put Barbados in control.
Kyshonna made 44 and Lavine made 20, as the Barbadians chose to bat and chased a huge total to keep themselves in the hunt for a place in the Final.
Keila Elliott followed up with 4-14 from four overs and Lavine snared 2-13 from four overs, as St. Lucia were dismissed for 45 in 17.4 overs. No St. Lucian batter reached 20.
The tournament takes a break today before the final round of preliminary matches is contested tomorrow when Dominica face T&T in the morning at Kensington Park, where Barbados face SVG in the afternoon, while Guyana play St. Lucia in the morning at Chedwin Park before Jamaica host Grenada in the afternoon.
