NORTH SOUND, Antigua – Ellyse Perry struck a second One-Day International hundred as Australia once again thrashed West Indies to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in their three-match ICC Women’s Championship series at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground on Sunday.
Opting to bat first at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground, the Aussies piled up a massive 308 for two off their 50 overs with the 28-year-old Perry stroking a measured, unbeaten 112 off 118 deliveries.
Opener Alyssa Healy struck a high tempo 58 off 43 deliveries while Ashleigh Gardner (57 not out) and Beth Mooney (56) chipped in with half-centuries.
In reply, West Indies never threatened and subsided to 157 for eight off their 50 overs, to concede defeat by 151 runs and the series with a game remaining.
Left-hander Kyshona Knight top-scored with 32, debutant Sheneta Grimmond got 31 while rookie Shabika Gajnabi (22) and captain Stafanie Taylor (21) got starts but failed to build.
The defeat followed the heavy 178-run loss in the opener at Coolidge Cricket Ground last Thursday and left West Indies hopes of moving up the points tables in tatters.
It was Healy who punished West Indies early on, smashing 10 fours and a six in a 56-run opening stand with captain Rachael Haynes (13).
Healy added a further 37 for the second wicket with Perry before finally perishing in the 18th over but Perry then took charge of the innings, inspiring a vital unbroken third wicket stand – first with Mooney and then with Gardner.
Perry, who struck nine fours, first put on 129 with Mooney who struck five fours in an 81-ball knock before retiring hurt.
Gardner then arrived to accelerate the partnership even further, belting half dozen fours and three sixes in a 25-ball cameo to fire the Aussies past the the 300-run mark for the second straight game.
In reply, West Indies lost their openers cheaply to be 30 for two in the 14th over and it was left to Knight and Taylor to restore respectability in a 49-run, third wicket partnership.
Neither batsman scored freely, Knight facing 81 balls and counting three fours and Taylor hitting a solitary boundary in her 46-ball knock.
With the innings wandering, both fell in a 58-ball period which saw four wickets tumble for just 18 runs, and Gajnabi and Grimmond posted 59 for the seventh wicket before both departed in the final over.
SCORES
AUSTRALIA WOMEN 308 for two off 50 overs (Ellyse Perry 112 not out, Alyssa Healy 58, Ashleigh Gardner 57 not out, Beth Mooney 56 not out)
WEST INDIES WOMEN 157 for eight off 50 overs (Kyshona Knight 32, Sheneta Grimmond 31, Shabika Gajnabi 22, Stafanie Taylor 21; Georgia Wareham 2-29)
(CMC)