The West Indies Women got their tour of Australia off to a winning start with a 4-wicket victory over a New South Wales (NSW) Women's team at Wilson Park.
Batting first, Karishma Ramharack had the NSW ladies spun tightly in her off-spin web along with skipper Hayley Matthews. NSW Women posted 105/9 from their 20 overs, skipper Sammy-Jo Johnson was their top-scorer with 28 followed by Hannah Darlington with 24. Ramharack finished with figures of 3-0-12-3 and Matthews 2-0-7-2.
Shemaine Campbelle led the West Indies Women's run-chase with the bat, as she posted 33 from 34 deliveries which included five boundaries. Skipper Matthews was next best with 24 off 27. Aaliyah Alleyne 19 not out and Zaida James 15 not out took the visitors home to victory in 17.5 overs.
Head Coach Shane Deitz was pleased with the team's first outing since arriving in Australia four days ago. He said "It's good to get the first win on tour. I think we've got a lot of areas we need to improve on… especially getting used to batting on these wickets with some extra pace and bounce. Overall, I think we played generally good all-round and it's going to put us in a good position to play on Sunday.
The ODI series against Australia is West Indies’ fourth fixture in the ICC Women’s Championship 2022-2025 after playing New Zealand, England and Ireland. Each match provides West Indies with opportunity to win valuable points to climb the Championship table where they currently lie 9th out of ten teams.
Following the Australia Series, West Indies Women will have four further three-match ODI series to play over the next two years.
At the end of the cycle, the top five teams in the ICC Women’s Championship and will book a berth for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in 2025 as well as hosts India.
The remaining teams will have to go through the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier.
