By Avenash Ramzan
Guyana finally got a ‘W’ in the Cricket West Indies CG United Women’s T20 Blaze, defeating Leeward Islands by 75 runs on Monday evening to end fourth round action at the National Stadium, Providence.
Batting first, Guyana recovered from a top order wobble to post 122-4, and then the spin quartet went to work, restricting the Islanders to 47-9 (innings closed).
Left-arm spinner Kaysia Schultz and the off-spinning trio Plaffiana Millington, Ashmini Munisar and Sheneta Grimmond combined for impressive figures of 11.5-0-40-8.
It was Guyana’s first victory in the tournament after enduring two defeats and a rained out contest in the previous three games.
Playing under lights for the first time this season, the Guyanese put in a top effort with the ball and in the field, the highlight being two stupendous reflex catches at slip by the diminutive Mandy Mangru.
Schultz picked up two wickets in her first over after Plaffiana Millington, playing her first game of the tournament, made the initial breakthroughs.
Their strikes effectively pocketed the game for Guyana, as the Leeward Islands’ batters found scoring difficult, being limited to 22-4 by the 10th over. They were effectively five down, as opener Jenison Richards had to be stretchered off after picking up an injury while batting.
Schultz added another wicket in her final over to finish with outstanding figures of 3-14, the hallmark of her spell being remarkable accuracy.
Millington had 2-4 from three overs, Grimmond 1-19 off four and Munisar, in her debut season, wrapped up the contest with the last two wickets off consecutive balls, ending with 2-2 off 0.5 overs.
Terez Parker, batting at number seven, was the only batter to make a double-digit score, ending on 11 not out as Leewards folded in 14.5 overs.
The Campbelle-Gajnabi show
Guyana’s highest total of the tournament was built on a brisk fourth wicket stand of 55 between West Indies pair Shemaine Campbelle and Shabika Gajnabi.
Skipper Campbelle and her deputy came together at the start of the 14th over at a shaky 63-3 and took charge of the innings, running the ones and twos and hitting a combined seven boundaries.
Campbelle was dismissed with two balls remaining in the innings for a top score of 36 off 30 balls, while Gajnabi was unbeaten on 32 off 23 (3x4s).
Lashuna Toussaint struck a solitary boundary in her 12 off 37 balls, fellow opener Katana Mentore made a run-a-ball 11 (2x4s), while Sheneta Grimmond scored 12 off 21.
Bowling for Leeward Islands, Amanda Edwards took 2-25, while Rozel Liburd and Shawnisha Hector had one each.
In the earlier fourth round matches on Monday, defending champions Barbados defeated Jamaica by 25 runs to move one step closer to a successful title defence, and Trinidad and Tobago won by the slimmest of margins, edging the Windward Islands by one run.
The fifth and final round of the tournament will be played on Tuesday (June 14) with Jamaica playing Leeward Islands from 10:00h, Barbados versus Trinidad and Tobago from 14:30h and Guyana against Windward Islands from 19:00h.
All matches are being played at the National Stadium, Providence.