DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, CMC – Deandra Dottin’s stunning unbeaten half-century was not enough to prevent Barmy Army Women from defeat as her West Indies teammate Britney Cooper produced a controlled knock to help steer Falcons to a comfortable eight-wicket victory here yesterday.
Sent in at the Dubai International Stadium in the fourth game of the FairBreak Invitational Tournament, Barmy Army gathered a competitive 152 for three from their 20 overs, underpinned by Dottin’s 80 not out off 59 deliveries.
In reply, captain Danni Wyatt struck a superb unbeaten 76 off 49 balls and opener Chamari Athapaththu 42 off 31 deliveries, to lay the foundation for the successful run chase.
Cooper arrived at the back end to carve out an unbeaten 32 from 23 balls and see Falcons over the line with 15 balls to spare.
The victory was the second in as many outings for Falcons Barmy, taking them top of the standings on eight points while Barmy Army’s defeat was their first, leaving them third on four points.
Dottin proved the catalyst for Barmy Army throughout their innings, counting a dozen fours and a brace of sixes as she put on 49 for the first wicket with Kavisha Egodage (24), 60 for the second wicket with Laura Wolvaardt (17) and a further 38 for the third with Heather Knight (20).
The 30-year-old Dottin, who opened the innings, reached her half-century in style in an over from Sri Lanka off-spinner Chamari Athapaththu which leaked 19 runs.
She moved into the 40s by clearing the ropes at mid-wicket with the second ball, before bringing up her landmark with the first two of three consecutive fours.
Falcons then answered through Wyatt, the English right-hander lashing eight four and four sixes to energize an opening stand of 67 with Athapaththu who made 42 from 31 balls, with half-dozen fours and a six.
When two wickets fell within six balls with three runs added, Wyatt remained steady to add 80 in an unbroken third-wicket stand with Cooper who counted two fours and a six.
In the other game at the same venue, Stafanie Taylor found herself among the runs as her Tornadoes beat Hayley Matthews’s Warriors by 13 runs.
Asked to bat first, Tornadoes posted 152 for three off their 20 overs with Sterre Kalis top-scoring with 58 from 57 balls in a 77-run opening stand with Sophie Devine whose 48 came from 35 deliveries.
Taylor arrived to strike two fours and a six in an unbeaten 31 from 21 balls, adding a further 55 for the second wicket with Kalis.
Matthews claimed two for 33 from her four overs of off-spin.
In reply, Georgia Redmayne struck 48 from 46 in a 47-run opening partnership with Matthews who got a start with 21 from 19 balls but failed to carry on, perishing in the sixth over to a catch at mid-off off her West Indies captain Taylor.
Redmayne and captain Sindhu Sriharsha (35) kept their side in the hunt with a 66-run, second-wicket stand before things fell apart.
