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televisionThe 2024 Masi Women’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL) kicked off with an exciting clash as the Barbados Royals Women took on the Guyana Amazon Warriors Women in the opening match of the tournament.
Both teams will be eager to get off to a good start in this much-anticipated match. A rematch of the 2023 final won by the Royals, the opener takes place at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago.
Some of the players taking part in this tournament are likely to have flown directly from England, where Sunday’s Hundred was played. The increase in the number of international women’s cricket and franchised women’s cricket matches is welcome, but (as with men’s cricket) the need for more matches must be carefully balanced with the welfare of the players.
Barbados Royals Women’s captain Hayley Matthews won the toss and elected to wicket first. The decision was a success as the Amazon Warriors were restricted to 118-9. This would be the third lowest score by a team wicket first in last year’s tournament.
Leading the way for the Royals was Alia Alleyne. The 29-year-old Bajan scored three points and helped prevent the Warriors from building a vital partnership.
After Qiana Joseph of St. Lucia dismissed Natasha McLean for 11, Alleyne, who played for the West Indies for five years, dismissed Warriors captain Lauren Winfield-Hill for 10 in the fifth over. Both bowlers ended the over with a swing. After five overs, the Warriors’ score was 28-2.
Former West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor came on and scored 38 runs off 36 balls, including four fours and a six. But Alleyne bowled the Jamaican star out in the 17th over, with the Warriors at just 100-4.
Joseph took the third wicket as Erin Burns bowled 19 balls and scored just 15 runs. Joseph bowled four balls and took figures of 2-14 at an economy rate of 3.50.
Australia’s Amanda-Jade Wellington bowled the penultimate over of the innings. The 27-year-old was in excellent form. She had Shemaine Campbelle bowled by Georgia for 16, ending Australia’s run after 21 balls for the West Indian.
Wellington struck again in the fourth ball when Shabnim Ismail was out at wicket for zero points and the innings ended with two runs, adding just three runs.
Joseph danced to celebrate his victory. (Photo: Barbados Royals)
In the penultimate over, Alleyne returned to remove Chloe Tryon for five points, caught by Wellington.
Mathews then came in to bowl the final run. Her previous two innings had yielded 15 runs, but this time she struck out Karishma Ramhalak for one, then sent Joseph to Ashmini Munnisar for seven.
The Royals got off to a dream start in their run chase, scoring nine runs in the first innings, all from Matthews. The 26-year-old hit Tryon for four on the first ball, repeated the trick three balls later, and then hit a single on the last ball.
Mathews then took five more runs from Ismail, a boundary and a single. Burns clamped down harder on Ismail, scoring just one run, and Redmayne took the lead. Mathews then hit his fourth four to extend the score to 20 runs without loss.
Redmayne finally hit a few more strikes against Ramhalak, increasing his score to 5. Matthews increased his score to 22, and the total score after four innings was 27.
The Royals lost their first wicket as Redmayne bowled five balls and conceded 30 runs. Meanwhile, Mathews continued to wow.
Rashada Williams was bowled for two by Latchman and Alleyne stepped up to bat alongside the captain. Alleyne looked in good form and scored five more runs off 10 balls. Unfortunately, she was bowled out at the start of the 10th over.
Laura Harris hit a four off her first ball to extend the Royals lead to 49-3 at the halfway stage, but she fell two balls later, being beaten by Ismail.
Joseph was joined by her left-handed teammate, who partnered to score 42 runs in less than five overs. Joseph allowed just six dot balls from the 20 balls she faced, hitting three fours and finishing with a score of 24 before Ismail bowled and the 35-year-old South African took the third wicket.
However, by then, only 29 balls were needed to score 27 runs. Matthews scored 44 runs off 43 balls, hitting six fours, and looked set to extend the lead.
But the opponent was Chinelle Henry. The 29-year-old Jamaican was sent off for four leg-out catches by Ismail and Warriors wicketkeeper Winfield-Hill. She took another four while hitting the ball to take the score to 100. She then became Ismail’s fourth wicket-keeper.
However, the tide had turned completely in the Royals’ favor by this point, and the Royals’ lead was extended when Matthews scored two runs from Selman at the start of the 17th inning. It was only Selman’s second inning, having given up 11 runs in her first.
From the Warriors’ perspective, Wellington’s dismissal was ultimately a foregone conclusion. Mathews reached her fifty in the next ball, again hitting the ball to the boundary. She reached the milestone off 47 balls.
After 17 innings, the Royals needed 12 of 18 to earn their fifth win in five games against the Warriors. Experienced Afy Fletcher joined her captain and the pair cut the deficit to 8 of 12, though Fletcher was beaten by Burns.
Now it was Shabika Gainabi’s turn, and he failed to score on all six balls he faced. The Warriors began to show life.
7 runs left. 6 balls left. 2 wickets in hand. Hayley Matthews bats for 54.
Two runs in the first over. Five runs in the bottom of the fifth. A no-run ball, followed by a brilliant pitch from Ismail to get Gajnabi out. Four runs in the bottom of the fourth, with Hayley Matthews being the best at bat. She found space twice to seal the win by one run with one run left in the inning.
Mathews’ third half-century in a Royals uniform and her 10th century in franchise cricket took her total in WCPL to 395 in just 10 innings. It was an exciting start for the Queens and they will try to retain the title in the coming days. (Task Force)
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