West Indies Women win thriller in opening T20I

GROS ISLET, St. Lucia– West Indies Women defeated Ireland Women by 2 wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground.

Batting first, Ireland were restricted to 112/7 in their 20 overs, thanks to economical and accurate bowling by Hayley Matthews 4-0-22-3, Cherry-Ann Fraser 3-0-22-2 and debutant Ashmini Munisar 4-0-16-1. Ireland captain Laura Delany top-scored with 34 followed by Eimear Richardson with 22.

In their run-chase, the West Indies lost wickets in consistent periods which slowed their scoring and forced it down to the last ball for a result. Skipper Hayley Matthews top-scored with 37 followed by Afy Fletcher with a valuable 19 when the game looked like it was slipping away from the home team. But Vice-Captain Shemaine Campbelle guided the team to a final ball single and take victory by 2 wickets.

Full scorecard here

Speaking after the match, Matthews said “A lot of nerves coming down to the end but still a lot of positives we can take from today’s game. We did a good job restricting Ireland to 112 on a really good batting wicket. Personally, I was happy to contribute to the win. Ashmini Munisar making her debut, how economical she bowled and taking her first wicket was one of the positives and it’s a good sign for the future.”

Match tickets are available online from the Windies Tickets service, presented by Mastercard – Tickets.windiescricket.com – at a discounted price of US$6/EC$16 (USS3/EC$7.50 children and seniors) with tickets available on the day at the box office at a price of US$7.50/EC$20 (US$3.75/EC$10 for children and seniors).

For fans unable to get to the games in St. Lucia, the CG United ODI Series will be exclusively live on RUSH Sports in the Caribbean and on BT Sport in the UK & Ireland. ​ The matches will also be shown around the world on FanCode (India), ESPN+ (USA), Sky NZ (NZ), SuperSport (sub-Saharan Africa) and in all other countries on the Windies Cricket YouTube channel.

FULL SQUAD

T20 International Series: 

All matches start at 5pm Eastern Caribbean Time (4pm Jamaica Time)

Tuesday 4 July: 1^st T20I- West Indies won by 2 wickets

Thursday 6 July: 2^nd T20I

Saturday 8 July: 3^rd T20I