BASSETERRE – Teenaged off-spinner Erin Deane produced a magical maiden five-wicket haul to script a stunning come-from-behind win, as Barbados finished an otherwise disappointed Women’s T20 Blaze with a dramatic 13-run victory over arch-rivals Trinidad and Tobago in St Kitts.
With T&T cruising at 40 without loss in the seventh over in pursuit of a paltry 97 for victory at Warner Park on Monday night, the 17-year-old Deane intervened with a brilliant spell of five for 14 from her four overs to engineer a collapse which saw the innings fold for 83 at the start of the penultimate over.
LeeAnn Kirby top-scored with 30 from 32 deliveries while opening partner Djenaba Joseph got 24 from 25 balls, but once they were separated when Kirby was bowled by leg-spinner Keila Elliott (2-16), the innings spiralled quickly.
New-ball speedster Allison Gordon chipped in with two for 16, both wickets coming in in the 13th over when Karishma Ramharack (0) skied to short mid-wicket and was taken by wicketkeeper Kycia Knight running around, and Steffie Soogrim lofted straight and was caught my Trishan Holder running from mid-off.
Earlier, Barbados seemed destined to defeat when they were dismissed for a paltry 96 with a ball left in their innings, in the nightcap contest of the tripleheader.
They were undermined by another five-wicket haul, this time from left-arm spinner Soogrim who finished with the remarkable figures of five for eight from her four overs.
Barbados were struggling at 16 for three in the fifth over before Kyshona Knight (25) and Aaliyah Alleyne (24) combined in a 42-run, fourth wicket stand to steady the innings.
Once it was broken, however, when Knight skied off-spinner Ramharack into the deep at the start of the 12th over, the innings entered terminal decline.
In reply, Kirby struck five fours and Joseph, three, as T&T took command of the run chase with a 40-run, opening stand.
Kirby was bowled, giving herself room to force through the off-side and Deane struck in the 10th over with only the second delivery of her spell when she lured captain Britney Cooper from her crease and bowled her for five.
Deane, in her first year at senior level, then turned the game on its head in the 14th over – her third of the innings – when she removed Joseph, Shunelle Sawh (0) and Samara Ramnath (0).
Joseph missed a cut and was bowled off the first ball of the over and off the very next delivery, Sawh drove loosely to cover to leave Deane on a hat-trick.
While she missed out on the feat, she claimed Ramnath with her fourth delivery, brilliantly taken low down at short mid-wicket of Gordon, and wrapped up her five-wicket haul when she got Kirbyina Alexander (1) to edge a cut behind in the 16th over.
The tournament wrapped up Monday with Jamaica playing unbeaten to take the title, completing the double after winning the Super50 Cup earlier this month.
CMC
Scores:
Barbados 96 (19.5 overs)(Kyshona Knight 25, A Alleyne 24, A Callender 15; S Soogrim 5-8) vs T&T 83 (18.1 overs) (L Kirby 30, D Joseph 24; E Deane 5-14, A Gordon 2-12, K Elliot 2-16). Barbados won by 13 runs.
