Dis­card­ed Windies Women’s all-rounder Sta­cy-Ann King led a suc­cess­ful run chase with 43 not out, as T&T logged a con­vinc­ing nine-wick­et vic­to­ry over the Lee­ward Is­lands in the third round of the West In­dies Women’s Twen­ty20 Blaze in George­town, Guyana on Sun­day.

Chas­ing 67 for vic­to­ry in the night­cap match at the Guyana Na­tion­al Sta­di­um, King slammed eight fours from 25 balls, as T&T reached their tar­get with 75 balls re­main­ing.

Ear­li­er, Le­an­dra Ramdeen (2-7) and Fe­li­cia Wal­ters (2-11) both pock­et­ed two wick­ets, as the Lee­ward Is­lands were dis­missed for 66 in 18 overs, with no bats­man reach­ing 20.

Cur­rent­ly, Bar­ba­dos top the stand­ings with nine points and a su­pe­ri­or net run rate; T&T are sec­ond al­so with nine points, but an in­fe­ri­or net run rate, Guyana are third on six points, Ja­maica is fourth on three points, and both Wind­wards and Lee­wards are with­out a point.

The T20 Blaze con­tin­ues to­day with the top-of-the-ta­ble con­test be­tween Bar­ba­dos and T&T lead­ing off the day’s pro­gramme at 9 am fol­lowed by Lee­wards and Ja­maica at 2 pm with Guyana and Wind­wards fea­tur­ing in the night­cap at 7 pm.

In the open­ing match, Pac­ers Er­va Gid­dings and Akaze Thomp­son shared six wick­ets to top a grit­ty 48 from West In­dies Women’s cap­tain Stafanie Tay­lor to lead hosts Guyana to a stun­ning, 20-run vic­to­ry over Ja­maica.

Gid­dings, a dis­card­ed Windies Women left-arm medi­um-fast bowler, took three for 13 from her al­lot­ted four overs and Thomp­son bagged three for 16 from 3.4 overs, as the Ja­maicans, chas­ing 115 for vic­to­ry, were bowled out for 94 in 18.4 overs in the open­ing match of the day’s triple-head­er.

Tay­lor struck six fours and one six in the top score of 48 from 57 balls and shared 49 for the fifth wick­et with fel­low Windies Women’s play­er Chinelle Hen­ry to lead a re­cov­ery for the Ja­maicans af­ter they slid to 19 for four in the sixth over.

No oth­er Ja­maican bats­man reached 20 and the vis­i­tors lost their last six wick­ets for 26 in the space of 28 balls, as off-spin­ner Shene­ta Grim­mond took two for 18 from four overs to has­ten the de­cline.

The Guyanese, sent in to bat, reached 114 for eight from their 20 overs built on an open­ing stand of 61 be­tween Tremayne Smartt and Grim­mond.

Smartt, a dis­card­ed Windies Women’s fast-medi­um bowler, led the way with 44 and Grim­mond made 25, but no oth­er bats­man reached 20, as Windies Women’s all-rounder Chedean Na­tion grabbed three for 14 from four overs and Vanes­sa Watts took three for 17 from her al­lot­ted four overs.

In the sec­ond match on the cards, an­oth­er no­table all-around per­for­mance from Windies Women’s all-rounder Hay­ley Matthews kept Bar­ba­dos on track for the Cham­pi­onship dou­ble with a sev­en-wick­et vic­to­ry over the Wind­ward Is­lands.

Matthews, the Bar­ba­dos cap­tain, took three for 18 from four overs with her off-spin, as the Wind­wards, de­cid­ing to bat, reached 131 for four from their 20 overs with for­mer Windies Women’s open­er Ju­liana Nero end­ing on 26 not out, Wind­wards cap­tain and Windies Women’s leg-spin­ner Afy Fletch­er mak­ing 26 and open­er Ner­is­sa Crafton adding 23.

Matthews re­turned to lead the way with the bat for the new­ly-mint­ed West In­dies Women’s Su­per50 cham­pi­ons with 45 from 27 balls that in­clud­ed nine fours and one six, but she was one of three wick­ets that fell for 11 in the space of 15 balls to leave Bar­ba­dos on 67 for three in the 11th over.

A stand of 66 – un­bro­ken – for the fourth wick­et be­tween the Windies Women’s pair of all-rounder De­an­dra Dot­tin, not out on 42 that in­clud­ed four fours and two six­es from 29 balls, and left-han­der Kyshona Knight, not out on 20, car­ried the Bar­ba­di­ans over the fin­ish line with sev­en balls to spare.

CMC

SCORES

GUYANA 114 for eight off 20 overs (Tremayne Smartt 44, Shene­ta Grim­mond 25; Chedean Na­tion 3-14, Vanes­sa Watts 3-17). JA­MAICA 94 off 18.4 overs (Stafanie Tay­lor 48; Er­va Gid­dings 3-13, Akaze Thomp­son 3-16, Shene­ta Grim­mond 2-18). Guyana won by 20 runs.

WIND­WARD IS­LANDS 131 for four off 20 overs (Ju­liana Nero 26 not out, Afy Fletch­er 26, Ner­is­sa Crafton 23; Hay­ley Matthews 3-18). BAR­BA­DOS 133 for three off 18.5 overs (Hay­ley Matthews 45, De­an­dra Dot­tin 42 not out, Kyshona Knight 20 not out; Ner­is­sa Crafton 2-22). Bar­ba­dos won by sev­en wick­ets.

LEE­WARD IS­LANDS 66 off 18 overs (Le­an­dra Ramdeen 2-7, Fe­li­cia Wal­ters 2-11). TRINIDAD & TO­BA­GO 70 for one off 7.3 overs (Sta­cy-Ann King 43 not out). T&T won by 9 wick­ets.