Taylor Leads West Indies Women To Close Win

Taylor Leads West Indies Women To Close Win

Stafanie Taylor hit 75 off only 78 balls.

©Action Images / Paul Harding Livepic

West Indies Women 234-8 (Taylor 75) beat
South Africa Women 230-7 (Smartt 2-43) by 2 wickets
Women’s World Cup Super Six, Cuttack
Scorecard

West Indies Women successfully chased down the 231 that they needed to win their opening super six match in the ICC Women’s World Cup, but the chase wasn’t without its difficulties. South Africa Women kept fighting all the way to the end and it was left to number 10 Shanel Daley to hit the winning boundary.

Following the early loss of Natasha McLean to Susan Benade, the chase soon looked like being a formality as Stafanie Taylor lived up to her billing as the best Women’s ODI batter and shared a second-wicket stand worth 126 with Kycia Knight. The two scored at an impressive rate during their partnership, adding the runs in less than 23 overs.

However, Knight’s dismissal to impressive 19-year old spinner Dane van Niekerk would be the first in a steady trickle of wickets that threatened to derail the West Indies run chase. Taylor was dismissed by van Niekerk in her next over for a well made 75 off 78 balls, with the key wicket of Deandra Dottin coming half an hour later.

That left the score reading 173 for four with victory still some way off and it would get worse as Kyshona Knight was caught behind off Marizanne Kapp without another run being added. Fortunately, Shemaine Campbelle was on hand to steady any nerves and hit 33 off 42 balls to take her side to the brink of an important win. She fell to Kapp with the scores level, but Daley didn’t hang around and struck her first ball for four to get the match over and done with.

Earlier, South Africa’s innings had been one of what might have been as four batters ended with scores between 31 and 45. Vice-captain Trisha Chetty would be the innings’ top-scorer with 45, with skipper Mignon du Preez also one of the culprits, falling for 31. Their second-wicket partnership of 62 was ended at just the wrong moment and left South Africa on 84 for two in the 26th over.

If those two had carried on batting for another 15 overs then who knows what total they might have reached. As it was, Cri-zelda Brits and Dane van Niekerk did their best with cameos of 44 and 33 not out which came at better than a run a ball, with South Africa eventually ending their innings at 230 for seven.

All of the key West Indies bowlers returned respectable figures, with opening bowlers Tremayne Smartt and Shanel Daley ending with two for 43 and one for 39 respectively. Taylor was the most economical with figures of one for 32 from her 10 overs, with Subrina Munroe also miserly, conceding just 26 runs from six overs.