West Indies Women lost against England Women by five wickets in their fifth and final one-day international (ODI) cricket encounter at Sabina Park yesterday, which in the process allowed the visitors to claim a 3-2 series victory.
In what was a less-than-ideal batting display, West Indies Women, after winning the toss, were bowled out for a modest 155 in 47.1 overs, with England replying with 158 for five off 38.5 overs.
Leading the batting charge for the West Indies was talismanic opener and joint Player of the Series, Stafanie Taylor, who in recording her third half-century of the series, a well-played 57, made most runs for the regional women.
Middle-order batter, Britney Cooper, 23, and opener Hayley Matthews, 22, were the next best scorers against Player of the Match and the other joint Player-of-the-Series, left-arm spinner Alex Hartley, who took four for 24.
The English, in pursuit of the victory target, were led by an unbeaten 58 from frontline batter Natalie Sciver.
This was in addition to knocks of 34 from opener Tammy Beaumont and 29 from captain Heather Knight.
“It’s disappointing that we were not able to pull it off, but this is what happens when you don’t show up,” said Taylor. “We had backed ourselves to get a total closer to 200, but that did not happen and it gave them a low total to chase.
“But, overall, I am proud of the effort of the girls in the series, and it is for us to learn from this experience going forward.”
Knight, in the meantime, praised the fight shown by her charges throughout the series.
“It was tough series, but we always knew we had what it take to come out on top,” Knight said. ”It was all about application and in the final match I thought we did that brilliantly.”
LEAPFROGGED COMPETITION
The result also ensured that the English leapfrogged the regional women in the multi-year eight-team ICC Women’s Championship, which also serves as a qualifier for next year’s International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s World Cup.
England are now on 23 points, one more than the West Indies heading into their final set of matches next month.
The West Indies will next play away to India, while England are scheduled to travel to Sri Lanka.
World champions and early qualifiers Australia, on 30 points, lead the standings with New Zealand fourth on 20 and South Africa next on 17.
The top four teams at the end of the championship, which offers two points for a win and one for a no-result, will automatically advance to the World Cup, with the other four down to contest a play-off series with two ICC Associate member countries.
SCOREBOARD
WEST INDIES WOMEN
H Matthews c Hartley b Elwiss 22
S Quintyne c wkp Jones b Brunt 1
*S Taylor st Jones b Hartley 57
D Dottin c Sciver b Hartley 15
+M Aguilleira c Sciver b Hartley 6
B Cooper c Winfield b Brunt 23
S Campbelle c Marsh b Hartley 4
S King st Jones b Brunt 12
A Fletcher lbw b Knight 2
A Mohammed c Brunt b Knight 2
S Connell not out 4
Extras (lb4, w3) 7
TOTAL (all out, 47.1 overs) 155
Fall of wickets: 1-8 (Quintyne, 2.4 overs), 2-29 (Matthews, 11.1), 3-66 (Dottin, 22.1), 4-76 (Aguilleira, 26.3), 5-114 (Cooper, 37), 6-131 (Campbelle, 40.3), 7-137 (Taylor, 42.3), 8-148 (King, 44.5), 9-148 (Fletcher, 45.1), 10-155 (Mohammed, 47.1)
Bowling: Brunt 9-1-35-3 (w1), Sciver 4-0-11-0, Gunn 5-1-18-0 (w1), Elwiss 3-1-11-1, Marsh 10-0-29-0, Hartley 10-1-24-4 (w1), Knight 6.1-0-23-2.
ENGLAND WOMEN
L Winfield c King b Matthews 12
T Beaumont c & b Fletcher 34
*H Knight c wkp Aguilleira b Fletcher 29
N Sciver not out 58
D Wyatt c Cooper b Mohammed 12
G Elwiss b Dottin 5
+A Jones not out 4
Extras (w4) 4
TOTAL (5 wkts, 38.5 overs) 158
Did not bat: K Brunt, J Gunn, L Marsh, A Hartley.
Fall of wickets: 1-33 (Winfield, 8 overs), 2-56 (Beaumont, 16.1), 3-112 (Knight, 28.1), 4-133 (Wyatt, 33.5), 5-151 (Elwiss, 38).
Bowling: Connell 3-0-15-0, Matthews 8-0-33-1, Dottin 4-0-23-1 (w3), Fletcher 10-2-28-2, Mohammed 6.5-0-32-1, Taylor 5-0-22-0, Quintyne 2-0-5-0.
Result: England Women won by five wickets.
Series: England won five-match series 3-2.
Points: England Women 2, West Indies Women 0.
Player-of-the-match: Alex Hartley.
Umpires: G Brathwaite, N Duguid.
