A blistering half century from Deandra Dottin and a four-wicket haul from Hayley Matthews helped Barbados to a five-wicket win over Guyana in the Cricket West Indies/ Colonial Medical Insurance Women’s Super50 yesterday.
At the National Stadium, Providence in the Round Four showdown, Barbados won the toss and inserted Guyana on a slow pitch.
Guyana, 98-3 at one stage, were dismissed for 159 in 42.3 overs.
In reply, Barbados recovered from 28-3 to cruise to 164-5 with player of the match, Dottin smashing Akaze Thompson for a four followed by the only six of the match over long on in the 26th over to seal the victory.
Dottin entered the crease with the in-form batter and captain, Matthews (11) and Kyshona Small (02) already back in the shed after being dismissed by off-spinner, Sheneta Grimmond who finished with 2-23.
A motivated Dottin finished unbeaten on 75 from just 55 balls.
The second highest ranked One Day International batter from the Caribbean showed her skill on both sides of the wicket but favoured the sweep shot which earned her four of her 12 boundaries.
Dottin took a liking to left-arm seamer, Erva Giddings (2-52) who had knocked over Danielle Small for four, as she pounded her for five boundaries.
The 27-year-old was fortunate as she was dropped on 43 and 56. She then went on to share in a 91-run partnership with Kaycia Knight.
Knight looked solid, stroking five boundaries through the cover region as well as three through the third man area before looping a simple return catch to Thompson and end her 44-ball innings on 45.
Earlier, Guyana lost Grimmond leg before wicket (lbw) in the second over but Shemaine Campbelle once again proved her stability, top scoring with 40 from 65 balls with six boundaries.
The 26-year-old shared in a second-wicket stand of 40 with Mandy Mangru before the teen was dismissed trying to turn a full toss to the leg side only to get a leading edge into the hands of Matthews for 16 off of 19 balls comprised of two boundaries.
The West Indies player also shared in a 48-run union with Shabika Gajnabi but the two fell in quick succession, bowled by Dottin who ended with 2-27. Gajnabi managed 24 from 43 balls in her hour long stay that saw her hitting three fours.
Apart from Lashuna Toussaint (18) and Treymane Smartt (19), no other batter reached double figure as Matthews ripped through the lower order including the wickets of Melanie Henry and Cherry Ann Fraser off of successive deliveries.
She finished with 4-25 to bring her total wickets in the tournament to 15, pointing out that the ball was doing a bit and it was just about sticking to the right areas.
After the match, Campbelle said she thought her side put out a bit of effort but was unfortunate to lose the game, noting that it is time to go back to the drawing board and work out their mistakes.
She pointed out that the fielding let them down as well as the batting that collapsed but having already been knocked out of contention for the title, she believes that they can still salvage a win and prepare to head into the T20 format.
Meanwhile, Dottin said the performance was pretty good but credited her mindset for the exceptional performance, noting that she has been working on her fitness and her game.
Matthews acknowledged that it was a pretty good performance from their batting despite the top order not doing so well.
Barbados will now face undefeated Trinidad and Tobago in the final contest at Enmore Community Centre on Tuesday.
