That is the end of our coverage as well. Barbados Royals Women start their title defense with a nail-biting victory. More actions are coming your way from the cricketing world.
For now, this is me AkshayaKrishna Polya, signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Ayan Chatterjee and scorer/analyst Vishnu Verma brought you all the live action of this thriller. We will meet again. Until then, its cheers!
Hayley Matthews (POTM and Barbados Royals Women Captain): "Real good. Girls did a great job in restricting the opposition. They made my job easier with the bat as there was no pressure during the chase.
Good hand by Qiana Joseph. She took the pressure off me by whacking a few around. I could play my game. Glad to take the team over the line.
Hundred percent. Taking the game to the last over was not smart, but the wicket was slow and tricky. Getting a spinner to bowl the last over was a smart decision by them.
We need to improve on our fielding. A few areas where we need to make changes. We need to take those catches. We don't have much time to think about it but we need to improve."
Player of the Match: Hayley Matthews.
Lauren Winfield-Hill (Guyana Amazon Warriors Captain): "I thought it was a great game. We lost momentum with the bat and were 10-15 short. But fair play to the girls for the way they fought out there and what a great game.
What a game. We had great partnerships but we lost wickets in clumps and that made the difference.
Latchman held herself well and did really well out there in the middle. Some sloppiness in the field due to dew factor. But all in all, a great effort from the girls, we lost with the bat I felt."
Time for the presentations.
8:15 AM IST and 9:45 PM Local Time: A banger game to kickstart the Women's Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) 2024! Defending champions Barbados Royals Women keep their nerve somehow to beat Guyana Amazon Warriors Women by one wicket with one ball to spare! They now have made five wins in five matches against the Guyana-based franchise!
Earlier in the match, Barbados Royals Women skipper Hayley Matthews won the toss and decided to bowl first. Plenty of the Guyana Amazon Warriors’ batters got starts, but there was no big contribution to trouble the opposition as they were restricted to 118/9 in 20 overs. Experienced West Indian Stafanie Taylor was dropped on 1 by Qiana Joseph off her own bowling, and she made the Royals pay for the error on the field, hitting 38 from 36 balls.
Taylor added 41 runs for the third wicket with Erin Burns (15 off 19) and added 31 with Shemaine Campbelle (16 off 21) for the fourth wicket. They were in a decent position until the 16th over but failed to make it count, losing wickets in quick succession.
Aaliyah Alleyne was the pick of the bowlers, with figures of 3/21. Hayley Matthews (2/19), Qiana Joseph (2/14) and Amanda-Jade Wellington (2/19) grabbed two wickets each.
Coming to the run chase, Hayley Matthews started off with a bang, but the Royals lost Georgia Redmayne for 6 off 11 balls, courtesy of a blinder of a catch from flying Erin Burns at point. Matthews remained at one end while she watched other batters come and go to the pavilion.
Skipper Matthews remained unbeaten till the end and scored a precious half-century. When the Royals were 50/4, Matthews got an able partner in the form of Joseph (24 off 20) to push the bowling side on the back foot.
All of a sudden, a few quick wickets just didn't allow the Royals to get over the line easily. Shabnim Ismail was breathing fire with the ball and registered the best-ever bowling figures in the tournament, scalping four wickets. Erin Burns and Nyia Latchman picked up a wicket each, and a couple of run-outs just made things interesting in the end.
Matthews (61* off 58) ran out of partners but kept herself calm under pressure to clinch the victory in the final over, with 7 needing to win.