3:10 AM IST and 5:40 PM Local Time: So that's it for our coverage of the first match of this year's WCPL. It's time for me, Sourya Chowdhury, to sign off on behalf of my fellow commentator, AkshayaKrishna Polya and our scorer, Bishal Mandal. See you soon.
Shemaine Campbelle (Guyana Amazon Warriors Women Captain): "Happy with the performance and the way we have begun the tournament.
Laura's spell was crucial in bringing the game to our side, and she did a great job.
I thought we had a par score at the end of the first innings with the conditions a little slow we knew our spinners could get into the game.
Looking forward to the game tomorrow, and we hope we can build on this win."
Deandra Dottin (Trinbago Knight Riders Women Captain):"To be honest, we did a good job with the ball. They punished us when we bowled anything loose. Overall, we did well with the ball.
With Laura Harris bowling, it was a perfect opportunity to take the attack, but it didn't come off for me. We should make a few improvements. We should have rotated the strikes better, as we have played a bit more dot balls than we would have liked.
We will do some tweaks and see where we need to be more alert. Again, we are going to play in the sun. We should have to regain a lot of energy when we play against Barbados Royals."
Laura Harris (POTM): "I did bowl a bit for my club, but this is not my regular thing. I had a couple of sessions with the ball in the nets. I do remember the last time I bowled for my club. Couldn't be more happier with the way it went with the ball for me.
I had a few ups and downs this season. I have put hard yards in the nets in the last few days. Luckily a couple of them went my way.
Another good day at cricket. You have to take them with both hands and enjoy the moment."
Player of the Match: Laura Harris
2:56 AM IST, 5:26 PM Local Time: Guyana Amazon Warriors have ridden a consummate bowling performance to win the first match of this year’s Women’s Caribbean Premier League against the Trinbago Knight Riders by six runs at home.
Chasing 130, the Knight Riders never got going in the chase despite staying in the mix and in the end fell just short. The pick of the bowlers for the Amazon Warriors was the unlikely, POTM Laura Harris (3/25 off 3 overs) as she got the prized scalps of Dottin and Claxton. Ashmini Munisar was in fine fettle along with Karishma Ramharick as well as the spinners spun a web around the batters.
South African veteran Lizelle Lee tried to stay abreast of the chase with her 36 off 32 but was outfoxed by the spin of the brilliant Munisar (3/21). Rashada Williams had a nightmare out there, scoring 1 off 14 while opening with Lee, while Jess Jonassen got 22 off 27 to build up a semblance of a partnership but the Knight Riders always played catch-up.
Earlier, the Guyana Amazon Warriors were put in to bat and put up a competitive 129/7 on a slow pitch. Stafanie Taylor (45 off 37), was the star of the show. She found her timing from the get go and hit five classy fours and one huge six. Her partnership for the second wicket with Realeanna Grimmond (33 off 36), provided the bulk of the runs for the Warriors. They put up 70 runs, the highest for the second wicket for the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the WCPL.
After the two departed in quick succession, the Warriors entered the doldrums and runs became tough to come by. Laura Harris’ 14 and Chedean Nation’s quickfire 21 helped them get to a score that was just above par.
For the Knight Riders, most bowlers were economical and used the changes of pace well. Jess Jonassen got 2/18 while Shikha Pandey (1/29) bowled a fine spell at the death. Samara Ramnath (1/19) was also on point with her off spin.