Connell bowls West Indies Women to victory over Pakistan

West Indies Women’s fast bowler Shamilia Connell bowled her team to a fantastic victory over Pakistan Women in the opening match of their CG Insurance Twenty20 International Series on Wednesday.

She took three wickets in a superb opening burst which gave the home team the ideal start in the field after they made 136-6 off their 20 overs. Pakistan never fully recovered and finished on 126-6 off their 20 overs.

It was the ideal start to the three-match series for the home team as they won by 10 runs to kick-start their campaign, as women’s international cricket returned to the Caribbean.

Connell ended with 3-24 – all three batters bowled. In the first over Javeria Rauf dragged on a sharp delivery and in the next over she also sent back Javeria Khan and Nida Dar, to leave Pakistan in deep trouble at 23-3.

They managed to recover thanks to some good power-hitting from Ayesha Naseem (45 not out) and Fatima Khan (24 not out) which sparked a late-innings revival after seam bowler Aliyah Alleyne took 2-23.

Earlier in the day, West Indies Women A lost to Pakistan Women A by seven wickets at the same venue.

Sent in, the hosts made 96-8 off their 20 overs. Rashada Williams top-scored with 33 off 41 deliveries and Shabika Gajnabi chipped in with an unbeaten 20 off 24 balls. Off-spinner Rameen Shamim (2-10) and fast bowler Aiman Anwar (2-22) finished with two wickets apiece.

In reply, Pakistan reached their target with seven balls to spare, thanks to opener Ayesha Zafar who saw her team home with an unbeaten 40 off 45 deliveries. The 26-year-old right-hander counted four fours and put on 40 off 44 balls for the first wicket with 23-year-old Omaima Sohail, who made 21 from 33 balls with two boundaries. (windiescricket.com)