Shemaine Campbelle scored a gritty 53 off 107 balls, while Hayley Matthews and Afy Fletcher dismantled the Bangladesh batting line-up to pull off another late heist at the ICC Women’s World Cup on Friday. It was a historic match for both teams as it was the first time they met in a One Day International fixture. Bangladesh skipper Nigar Sultana Joty won the toss and elected to bowl first playing with an unchanged team from their previous win against Pakistan. West Indies skipper Stafanie Taylor was happy with that decision, as she preferred to bat first on a pitch that was slightly used. The West Indies made two changes: leg-spinner Afy Fletcher replaced Shakera Selma and top-order batter Rashada Williams came in for the out-of-form Kycia Knight.
Photo Credit: WIPA
Openers Deandra Dottin and Hayley Matthews restrained themselves from their usual big hitting in the Powerplay as opening bowlers Jahanara Alam and Fariha Islam Trisna found some early swing. The batters played their shots cautiously but some excellent fielding inside the 30-yard circle kept the run rate to just over three runs an over. Jahanara persisted with her consistent line and length and was rewarded with the dismissal of Dottin, caught by the wicketkeeper, attempting to cut a ball that was just too close to her. The dismissal of Dottin for just 17 brought jubilation to the Bangladesh camp as they were rid of the most destructive West Indian batter. Rashada Williams joined Matthews at the crease, but the partnership was short-lived when the Bangladesh skipper plucked a pull by Matthews out of the air to send the opener back for 18. Stafanie Taylor entered next but could only score a boundary as she was bamboozled by spinner Nahida Akter and missed a sweep off a delivery that pitched outside leg stump and spun back in to disturb leg stump. With the ‘Big 3’ gone, Bangladesh once again erupted in celebration as they could sniff an imminent collapse.
Williams was next to go caught for 4 off a leading giving the experienced Salma Khatun her first wicket. Chedean Nation then joined Shemaine Campbell at the crease and got a life first ball as she was dropped by first slip. The West Indies brought up 50 in 16.5 overs and from there on the pair toiled at the crease finding difficulty in piercing the field, facing a few maiden overs along the way. Bangladesh continued to be electric in the field and it paid off when a sharp direct throw from Fargana Hoque at cover found Nation short of her crease at the striker’s end. That partnership of 12 off 76 runs ended with West Indies 60 for 5 in the 29th over. Aaliyah Alleyne and Chinelle Henry didn’t last long as they were dismissed for 0 and 1 respectively within the next four overs. Afy Fletcher, playing her first game since resuming cricket after a period of maternity leave put on a much-needed partnership of 32 with Campbelle before she was adjudged out caught at mid-wicket for 17 in a decision that went to the 3rd umpire to confirm if the fielder indeed had taken it cleanly. Karishma Ramharack then ably supported Campbelle to post the highest partnership of the innings (36) to see the West Indies stutter to 140 for 9 at the end of their allotted 50 overs. Campbelle ended on 53 not out which proved to be match-defining. Spinner Nahida Akter and Salma Khatun finished with identical figures of 2 for 23 after inflicting the majority of the damage.
Photo Credit: WIPA
As is customary in this World Cup, Hayley Matthews struck in the first over of the West Indies’ defence dismissing the opening batter Shamima Sultana without scoring. She would also pick up the wicket of the other aggressive opener Sharmin Akhter when Deandra Dottin pouched an easy catch at first slip as Akhter played a two-minded shot. Fargana Hoque then consolidated the innings with skipper Joty putting on 30 runs for the 3rd wicket with the West Indies hopes of a victory beginning to grow dim. However, Afy Fletcher would ensure her return to the squad after her period of leave would be one to remember. She got the breakthrough by bowling Hogue who got overambitious with the slog sweep. Karishma Ramharack applied the pressure with maiden overs at the opposite end which allowed Fletcher to claim two more wickets of Rumana Ahmed and Ritu Moni for ducks in the space of seven balls. Game on. Once again, the momentum shifting in favour of the West Indies. The Bangladesh skipper threatened to build another partnership again with Salma Khatun as the women started to build a partnership past 20 runs. However, an excellent bowling change by Taylor bringing back Matthews resulted in a double wicket maiden in the 33rd over with the wickets of Joty and Fahima Khatun. Salma Khatun continued to put up resistance against the spin attack but had no answer for captain Taylor who had her caught at mid-wicket to become Taylor’s 150th victim in One Day Internationals. Taylor also accounted for Jahanara who looked set to finish the game with aggressive strokes. With Bangladesh requiring 10 of 12 balls, Akter attempted to farm the strike to protect last batter Trisna. However, with the Maroon Warriors denying a second run off the 2nd ball of the final over, Trisna was forced to take strike and was bowled by Taylor, who ended the game with 3 wickets. The West Indies moved to third in the table in a better position to stake a claim for a semi-final spot.
After the match, Taylor again expressed her concern with the inconsistency of the batters and stated that they really needed to step up to better compete. She credited the performance of Fletcher on her return and looked forward to the team regrouping and addressing their weaknesses for the next game. The West Indies next take on Pakistan Women on Sunday 20th March at 9 pm local time.
WEST INDIES-W 140/9 (50 overs)
Shemaine Campbelle 53 (107)
Hayley Matthews 18 (43)
Salma Khatun 2-23 (10 overs)
Nahida Akter 2-23 (10 overs)
BANGLADESH-W 136 all out (49.3 overs)
Nigar Sultana Joty 25 (77)
Nahida Akter 25 (64)
Hayley Matthews 4-15 (10 overs)
Afy Fletcher 3-29 (10 overs)
Stafanie Taylor 3-29 (9.3 overs)
Player of the Match: Hayley Matthews
Congratulations to the west indies women. They didn’t bat well but they fielded well, particularly Hayley Matthews, Fletcher, Ramharack and skipper Taylor. This is my observation apart from the top three experience players the others are not driving the ball. I think this is one of the reasons they are not scoring enough runs, so the batting coach needs to work on that. They replaced Knight with Williams who batted at #3 and in my opinion she not a #3 batsman. She looks more like a tailender to me. Ramharack who is batting down the order looks more accomplished to me and she is one for the future, she is very economical in her bowling and she fields well. There is lots of work to be done by the coaches, particularly the batting coach. Best of luck to our girls in their remaining games.