CWI Women’s U-19 T20 Championship
Despite a rain-hit Cricket West Indies (CWI) Rising Stars Women’s U-19 T20 final, Guyana created history as they captured the title for the first time via the Duckworth/Lewis/Stern (DLS) method against Leeward Islands.
Playing at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba in Trinidad, the Leeward Islands won the toss and elected to bat, labouring to 68 all out in 19.4 overs. The Guyanese bowlers never gave the Leeward Islands batters a chance to string together meaningful partnerships or individual scores, bowling tight lines and good lengths, which were rewarded with regular wickets.
Trisha Hardat yet again led the attack for Guyana, returning spectacular figures of 4-10 from four overs, which included a maiden.
Hardat received splendid support from Danellie Manns (2-14, 4 overs) and Nyia Latchman (1-5, 4 overs), while Tramaine Marks snared 1-15 from her quota of four overs.
So accurate were the Guyanese bowlers that only Leeward’s S kipper, Jahzara Claxton, made a fighting 25 off 28.
The next highest run scorer in the innings was Courtney Browne with seven. In fact, were it not for the 22 extras gifted by the Guyanese, the total would have made for much worse reading.
In chase of 69 for victory, the Guyanese were cruising on 63-5 from 11.3 overs when the heavens opened up.
The rain ensured that the game did not resume, and when the DLS calculation was applied, Guyana was comfortably ahead of the required score by 23 runs, effectively sealing the win.
Earlier, opener Naomi Barkoye gave the Guyanese a rock solid start with 24 (24 balls), which included four fours, while Shonette Belgrave smashed a six and three fours during her 21 from 15 deliveries.
In a fighting effort with the ball, Amara Richards returned 2-12 (4 overs), with Sainvani Kambalapalli (2-27) also sharing a couple of wickets.
Throughout the tournament, the Guyanese girls had been impressive, with their bowlers at the forefront of their success, winning four out of five games in the round-robin phase of the tournament.
