KINGSTOWN, St Vincent—Trinidad and Tobago Women pulled off a major upset by defeating defending champions Jamaica Women by five wickets in a close encounter in the Women’s T20 Blaze on Saturday.
Jamaica Women produced a lacklustre effort with the bat, only managing to get up to 65-9 in their 20 overs after choosing to bat first at the Arnos Vale Playing Field.
T&T Women then made a meal of their run chase before eventually emerging victorious on 66 for five with four balls remaining in the match.
The result catapulted T&T to the top of the standings with two wins from two matches, while leaving Jamaica with the difficult task of defending their title.
The writing was on the wall for Jamaica early in the contest after they lost captain Rashada Williams, Chedean Nation and Abigail Bryce with just nine runs on the board.
Their struggles were further evident as they limped to 20 for three at the halfway stage.
Left-arm spinner Steffie Soogrim helped to suffocate Jamaica, grabbing four wickets for just two runs from her four overs.
Chinelle Henry (18) and Keneisha Ferron, who made 16, were the only two batters to score in double digits and were mainly responsible for getting them up to their eventual total.
T&T found themselves in similar trouble at the start of their run chase, slumping to 11 for three early on.
But Britney Cooper scored an unbeaten 30 and, along with Anisa Mohammed, who made a crucial 18, steered the side to victory.
Latchman bowls Guyana Women to victory
KINGSTOWN, St Vincent—Nyia Latchman delivered a devastating spell of leg spin bowling that crippled Windward Islands Women and set up a straightforward victory for Guyana Women in the Women’s T20 Blaze here at the Arnos Vale Playing Field, yesterday.
Latchman tore through the Windward Islands’ lower order, grabbing 4-8 from her two overs to limit them to 61 for nine in a contest that was reduced to 13 overs due to persistent showers.
Needing 65 to win due to the Duckworth/Lewis/Stern method, Guyana eased to 65 for three off 12 overs.
There was nothing to suggest the Windward Islands Women would be dismissed so cheaply when openers Nerissa Crafton and Japhina Joseph were busy adding 29 runs for the first wicket.
However, Sheneta Grimmond bowled Crafton and Jannillea Glasgow for 14 and one, respectively, to leave the score 33 for two.
But from a score of 46 for two, the Windward Islands shockingly lost their last eight wickets for 15 runs, thanks mainly in part to Latchman.
Joseph was needlessly run out for 17, before Ashmini Munisar snared the wickets of Afy Fletcher and Ashlene Edward in the space of three balls, to see the Windward Islands slip to 51 for five.
Latchman then accounted for the wickets of Earnisha Fontaine, Carena Noel, Zaida James and Niesha Cherry for the addition of just 10 runs to wrap up the innings.
Realeanna Grimmond (30) and Shabika Gajnabi, who scored an unbeaten 26, then steered their side to victory in a 54-run partnership for the second wicket.
And even though Guyana lost Grimmond and captain Shemaine Campbelle in quick succession, the result was never in doubt as they reached their target with an over to spare.
