And again a match between two of toughest side, England and West Indies, not to decide who goes in semis as they have already sealed their spots in it but to decide who’ll lead out as the Queen from Group. And the defending champions emerged out undefeated from the group stage as they win their last group match against England.
Electing to ball, West Indies restricted England at 115-8 in 20 overs. D Wyatt who was the star in last match failed to deliver today as she gave her wicket to S Selmen in the very first over. Beaumont did hit the ball but didn’t receive any good support from Jones(8) and Sciver(5) and eventually lost her wicket after scoring 23 runs in 28 balls to Fletcher. It was then on Sophia and allrounder Shrubsole, they did gave same support to rise the drowning innings of England. Sophia was the highest run scorer amongst English players today. She scored 35 runs in 30 balls with three boundaries and one six. Shrubsole played the supporting role while playing alongside Sophia as she scored 29 runs in 26 balls (2x4s 1x6s).
West Indian players displayed amazing bowling performance. S Selman and D Dottin both ended up taking 2 wickets each. With S Selman providing the breakthrough in the very first over.
While chasing the total West Indies lost 2 early wickets, as Shrubsole sent both Hayley and Stefanie back to pavilion in the 2nd over itself, proving that there’s still much left to the match. But their hopes were crushed as D Dottin and S Campbelle put forth 68 runs partnership. Holding her wicket at a crucial stage, D Dottin played a patience knock of 46 runs in 52 balls with one boundary and four sixes. The way S Campbelle played, she owned the field. 45 runs in 42 balls with four boundaries and one six, strike rate of 107.14. Shrubsole struck again as she took the wicket of Campbelle but the damage was already done. With 3 balls to spare Knight sealed the match by hitting a boundary.
It was Shrubsole who made chasing difficult for West Indies and made this such a close match. She first struck with her bat and then took 3 wickets in her spell of 3.3 overs from which one was maiden by giving only 10 runs. She was not on the winning side today but she surely won many hearts.
Stafanie Taylor : It was a good victory. We wanted momentum going into the semi finals. I would give my team 9 marks in the fielding. Campbelle played a crucial innings with Dottin to get us close to the total. Crowd is fantastic, they get the girls moving. A big Thank You to them, women’s cricket in Windies needs it. We know it’s not going to be an easy one against Australia.
Heather Knight : It was a great game of Cricket. Really great atmosphere, but not a great result for us. Lot of easy dismissals for us and we lost the match there. Pitch was up and down, it wasn’t coming onto the bat. We need a top 5 to perform. We have to show more composure. Sophia was amazing in her debut innings. India have played very good cricket in this tournament.
Deandra Dottin, player of the match : Right now bowling is giving me more pleasure. Though, I am enjoying my batting as well. I am sticking to the basics by bowling good lines and length. After having lost to two-three sticks, I needed to hang in there. I just knocked it around to start off.
Brief scores :
West Indies won by 4 wickets
England 115-8 in 20 overs (Sophia 35 runs, Shrubsole 29 runs, Beaumont 24 runs; S Selmen 2/15)
West Indies 117-6 in 19.3 overs (D Dottin 46 runs, S Campbelle 45 runs, N McLean 8 runs; A Shrubsole 3/10)
