Dottin wins the Super Series

(CPL) Deandra Dodin’s cool head and powerful batting helped the Trinidad Knight Riders defeat the Guyana Amazon Warriors in a tight contest at the 2024 Masi Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, Trinidad.

Defeat would have spelled the end for Dottin’s side, but a last-gasp super win gave the Knights their first point, keeping their hopes of playing in the tournament alive.

Both sides scored 128 points in 20 overs and the match ended in a draw. Dottin top-scored for the Knights with 53 off 38 balls. Then, Shikha Pandey (25) and Kycia Knight (16) saved the day in the middle overs.

The Warriors seemed to have the initiative in the chase. Erin Burns played a patient innings, hitting her second straight fifty, and Shemaine Campbell provided support as they needed to take a seemingly manageable 19 runs from the final three overs. In the closing stages of the main over, both Burns and Chloe Tryon failed to play, resulting in two quick dismissals for the Warriors, sending the match into a super over.

Shabnim Ismail took the catch for the Warriors in the Super Over and impressed again with figures of 2/24. Dodin then seized the initiative of the match, hitting two huge sixes in her first three deliveries, and on the second delivery she dropped to her knees and lofted the ball high over the leg-side ropes.

Jemima Rodriguez hit a single in the last two overs and the diminutive batsman showed her quality by hitting a cover drive for four in Ismail’s final over. The Knights scored a staggering 19 runs in six overs.

The Warriors’ comeback didn’t go as planned. Jesse Jonathan, who had been frugal all night, hit a superball to end the inning for the Knights. Chloe Therrien got her second out in as many minutes, this time on the first pitch of the superball, before Burns passed the ball to Dodin in coverage.

Campbell and Natasha McLean took part in the final rites, but by then the Warriors’ goal was out of reach. Dodding’s team withstood the pressure of defending their title twice in one night and continued to fight in the championship.