West Indies clinch tight win in low-scorer T20

Saturday, 2 March 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

West Indies captain Merissa Aguilleira’s unbeaten 34 helped the team clinch a narrow two-wicket win off the last ball against Sri Lanka in the first of the three Twenty20s. In a match in which only four batsmen got into double-digits scores, Aguilleira’s innings turned out to be the difference.

Sri Lanka chose to bat, but were in trouble soon as they lost their top five with only 39 on the board. They struggled the most against Shakera Selman, who had figures of 2 for 14, and Shanel Daley, who didn’t get a wicket but gave away only 10 runs in her four overs. Only two of Sri Lanka’s batsmen – Eshani Kaushalya and Dilani Manodara – got into double figures and helped the team crawl to 87.

West Indies’ innings followed the same pattern as Sri Lanka’s for the most part. They were reduced to 27 for 4 after Kaushalya picked three wickets in her first three overs. Stafanie Taylor scored a vital 25 and when she was out with 29 runs still needed, the match hung in balance. Aguilleira saw three more wickets go down at the other end, but held her end and hit a boundary off the last ball when they required two runs.

Chief scores: West Indies Women 90 for 8 (Aguilleira 34*, Kaushalya 3-18) beat Sri Lanka Women 87 for 7 (Kaushalya 25, Selman 2-14) by two wickets.

Pic by Shantha Ratnayake