Hosts New Zealand suffers in the opener as they lost three wickets in the final over to West Indies. The opening match was a complete seesaw performance in Tauranga.
New Zealand marched from 162-6 as they attempted a record Women’s World Cup chase of 260. They needed only six runs from six balls in the final over with three wickets in hand.
However, the West Indies seamer Deandra Dottin came in the way of New Zealand’s victory. Deandra Dottin dismissed Katey Martin (44), and Jess Kerr (25) – who had scored 40 for the eighth wicket. A run-out came after that which dismissed Fran Jonas (0) as New Zealand got defeated at 256.
WI batting show and New Zealand’s collapse
Haylee Matthews shined for West Indies with a century (119) that took them to a total of 259 for 9 wickets. The New Zealand skipper Sophie Devine countered it with 108.
Devine’s squad got placed well in the chase at 123-2 in the 28th over, as the captain put on 76 with the partnership of Amy Satterthwaite (31) for the third wicket. Satterthwaite got out which lead the team to collapse at 39 for 4 and that led the game in the West Indies’ way.
Chinelle Henry brilliantly nicked off the key wicket of the skipper Sophie Devine with a magnificent caught and bowled.
West Indies deadly bowling
Deandra Dottin had the final say by putting down Martin for an LBW from the second ball of the over. Kerr caught at mid-off from the fourth and ran out Jonas from the fifth.
Matthews deserved the win as she scored a beautiful century, which featured 16 boundaries and a six. This helped the West Indies team to the third-highest World Cup total, with amazing bowling figures of 2-41 from 10 overs, getting Amelia Kerr and Brook Halliday out.
Sophie Devine scored her second century of the week. The 32-year-old smashed an unbeaten 161 runs as New Zealand chased down 322 in a warm-up match victory over Australia a few days ago.
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