SHARJAH: Karishma Ramharack’s four-fer, followed by Hayley Matthews’ blistering knock up the order gave West Indies a massive eight-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the 13th match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024.
Chasing a modest total, West Indies knocked the winning runs on the fifth delivery of the 13th over with eight wickets in hand.
Hayley Matthews provided West Indies a flying start to the pursuit with a brisk 34 off 22 deliveries, laced with six boundaries.
She was involved in a rampant 52-run opening partnership with Stafanie Taylor, who scored 27 off 29 deliveries before getting retired hurt.
Wicketkeeper batter Shemaine Campbell kept the momentum in West Indies’ favour with a 16-ball 21 before Deandra Dottin’s quickfire 19-run cameo off just seven balls steered West Indies to an important victory.
For Bangladesh, Nahida Akter and Marufa Akter could pick up a wicket apiece.
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West Indies captain Hayley Matthews’ decision to bowl first bore fruits as her bowlers dominated Bangladesh and reduced them to 103/8 in the allotted 20 overs.
Bangladesh had a sloppy start to their innings as they lost both their openers Shathi Rani and Dilara Akter inside batting powerplay with just 33 runs on the board.
Skipper Nigar Sultana then joined forces with Shobhana Mostary and launched a decent recovery.
The pair added 40 runs for their third-wicket partnership, which culminated with Mostary’s dismissal in the 13th over. The right-handed batter made a 22-ball 16.
Bangladesh slipped further when they lost two more wickets in quick succession which brought their total down to 75/5 in 14.4 overs.
However, Sultana kept going and put together a defiant 21-run partnership with Ritu Moni (10) before both perished in the span of six deliveries.
Sultana remained the top-scorer for Bangladesh with a 44-ball 39, laced up with four boundaries.
Karishma Ramharack was the pick of the bowlers for West Indies, returning brilliant bowling figures of 4/17, followed by Afy Fletcher, who bagged two wickets.
Remember, this is a must-win game for both West Indies and Bangladesh, placed third and fourth respectively in Group B standings of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024.
Bangladesh had a dream start to their campaign with a 16-run victory over Scotland before coming up 21 runs short against former champions England.
They next face South Africa, who are at the summit with four points in three matches.
West Indies had a disastrous start to their campaign as they succumbed to a 10-wicket thrashing against South Africa but rout Scotland in their next fixture by six wickets and 50 balls to spare to move to third.