Spinners star as West Indies women clinch narrow win over Pakistan

Stefanie Taylor shone with the bat, spinner Anisa Mohammed was the star with the ball for the Windies as she picked three wickets for 25 runs. 

It all looked like Pakistan's game when their skipper Sana Mir won the toss and put the Windies in first. A disciplined bowling effort from Pakistan's slow bowlers ensured that the Caribbeans were strangulated enough to finish at 103/8. However, West Indies came back to give Pakistan a taste of their own spin medicine and held their nerves to clinch a narrow win. With 12 needed off the final over, Pakistan could only manage seven runs. 

Pakistan's chase started on a horrid note after the break when Javeria Wadood was struck on the helmet on the fourth ball of the first over bowled by Shemaine Campbell. Wadood collapsed in a heap and was stretchered off to a hospital quickly, and was later declared stable.  

The West Indies bowlers picked up wickets at regular intervals to dent Pakistan's chase. Just like their counterparts Pakistan found the going tough and their first boundary came in the sixth over when Bismah Mahroof sent Anisa to the third man fence. Sidra Ameen tried to calm the nerves of Pakistan when she dispatched Afy Fletcher for two boundaries in as many balls. 

However, regular wickets pegged Pakistan and with the run-rate climbing in a steady fashion, they were reduced to needing 12 runs off the final over. Sana Mir and Asmavia Iqbal took three off the first ball in a most comical fashion when West Indies wicket-keeper Merissa Aguilleira missed the stumps twice in attempting a run-out. However, Deandra Dottin gave nothing away for the Pakistan women to flex their muscles as the Women in Green stumbled at the final hurdle. 

Earlier, Pakistan started proceedings with the left-arm spin of Anam Amin and the spinner got the vital breakthrough of Haley Mathews in the sixth over to break the opening partnership of 28. Four balls later, Shaquana Quintyne was run-out and with 31/2 West Indies realised their first hiccup. The fact that both Pakistan and West Indies bowled only one fast bowler in the match each stood testimony to the assistance the slow bowlers got. 

It soon became 37/3 in the eighth over when star batswoman Dottin lost her leg stump to Sadia Yousaf before she could open her account. The Pakistan spinners kept it neat and tidy and the boundaries became a rarity. 

West Indies skipper Stephanie Taylor (48) and Aguilleira (22) stitched a 35-run partnership for the fourth wicket in an attempt to revive the innings but when Taylor was bowled round her legs by Amin, with the score at 71 in 14.3 overs, West Indies were in for a struggle. 

The overs between eight and 13 saw only one boundary being scored. The spinners tossed the ball nicely, generating good flight, and induced the batters to make mistakes. In an attempt, to play cautious cricket, West Indies lost the plot. Amin, was the pick of the bowlers and finished with figures of 4/16 from her four overs. 

A run-out in an attempt to take a non-existent single at mid-off by Aguilleira made matters worse when Britney Cooper was caught well short of the crease and the slide began again for the Windies. Aguilleira had to then take matters in her own hands and soon holed out after finding Nida Rashid on the deep midwicket boundary. A couple of boundaries in the end saw Windies edge past the 100-run mark. 

Pakistan skipper Sana Mir said that her team could have approached the chase better. "I thought my bowlers did well to restrict Windies to 103. We could have scored well in the power play which hampered our chase but we could have kept it under control, which we didn't. It is a learning that we take into the next match," Mir said. 

Brief scores: West Indies 103 for eight in 20 overs (Stafanie Taylor 40, Anam Amin 4/16, Sadia Yousaf 2/14) beat Pakistan 99 in 20 overs (Sidra Amin 20, Bismah Maroof 22, Anisa Mohammed 3/25).