(CMC) – West Indies Women bowed out of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in heartbreaking fashion when they went down by eight runs to New Zealand in the second semifinal yesterday at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
It was a disappointing result for the Windies, who wasted a brilliant all-around performance by Deandra Dottin in their bid to reach their second T20 World Cup final.
The West Indies produced a good bowling effort to limit New Zealand to 128 for nine in 20 overs, with Dottin grabbing 4-22 from her four overs.
However, they lost wickets at regular intervals in their chase and could only muster 120 for eight when the overs expired.
Dottin once again starred, this time top-scoring with 33 runs from 22 balls, which also included three massive sixes.
West Indies would have fancied their chances, having to score at just over six runs an over, but New Zealand’s trio of Rosemary Mair, Fran Jonas, and Player-of-the-Match Eden Carson stifled them from the start of their innings.
Qiana Joseph hit Carson for two fours in the fourth over, but then lost her off stump going for a mighty heave, and Carson had Shemaine Campbelle caught for three at extra cover in consecutive overs as the West Indies limped to 20 for two at the start of the fifth over.
At the end of the power play, the West Indies found themselves 25 for two and with a huge task of increasing the run rate.
Carson then grabbed her third wicket when she clean bowled the experienced Stafanie Taylor, who laboured to 13 runs from 20 balls, to leave the West Indies tottering on 41 for three in the ninth over.
Not long after, captain Hayley Matthews skied a delivery from Lea Tahuhu to midwicket, where Amelia Kerr took the catch at midwicket to be out for 15, and Maddy Green took a brilliant catch at long off to account for Aaliyah Alleyne for just four, as New Zealand took command at 63 for five in the 14th over.
Dottin and Afy Fletcher, who scored an unbeaten 17, then came together in a 33-run partnership for the sixth wicket in just three overs that threatened to swing the game back in the West Indies’ favour.
And when Dottin clobbered Tahuhu for three sixes in the 16th over that cost 23 runs, West Indies required 34 runs from 24 balls.
But just as the momentum seemed to be with the West Indies, Amelia Kerr got Dottin to top edge her attempted sweep to short fine leg where Jonas took an easy catch. Zaida James and Fletcher did their best to keep their team in the contest, and with one over remaining, the West Indies needed 15 runs.
James drove off-spinner Suzie Bates’ first ball to the extra cover boundary for four, but after failing to make contact with the second ball, she was comprehensively bowled off the third ball for 14 with the West Indies still requiring 11 runs.
New batter Ashmini Munisar could only gather one run off the fourth ball, and when Fletcher failed to connect with the penultimate ball, it sent New Zealand through to their first ever T20 World Cup final.
Earlier, the West Indies would have felt New Zealand scored 20 runs too much after their bowlers contained them for the majority of their innings.
Openers Bates and Georgia Plimmer added 48 runs for the first wicket but needed nine overs to do so.
Spinner Karishma Ramharack made the breakthrough when she bowled Bates for 26 from 28 balls before Dottin struck to remove Amelia Kerr for seven to leave the score 65 for two in the 12th over.
Dottin then bowled Brooke Halliday for 19, had Maddy Green caught behind for three, and trapped Rosemary Mair lbw for two, as New Zealand stuttered to 104 for seven in the 17th over. But Isabella Gaze scored an unbeaten 20 from 14 balls as New Zealand mustered 24 valuable runs from the last three overs, which proved to be decisive.
