Calypso party in town

If there has to be a winner adjudged among the most flamboyant team in cricket, the West Indies women, like their male counterparts, would win hands down. There is a sundry flavour in how they go about in their cricketing duties. Be it celebrating a wicket or a win the Windies give it their all. And they demonstrated the same on a hot and humid Sunday noon when they brushed past Bangladesh in their group game at the World T20.

It was all-round performances from skipper Stafanie Taylor (41 & 3/13) , opener Hayley Matthews (42 & 2/16) and along with star bats-woman Deandra Dottin (24 & 2/17) that guided West Indies to a 49-run win at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here on Sunday.

After scoring 148/4 against an ordinary Bangladesh bowling attack, West Indies shot Bangladesh out for 99, with Taylor, Matthews and Dottin being the wreckers-in-chief. Nahida Akter shone for the girls in green with figures of three for 27 in four overs.

West Indies started on a cautious note as Bangladesh began with spin from the second over on a track that assisted the slow bowlers right from the word go. A constant run rate of around five runs per over meant fireworks from the bat were at a premium. West Indies could only manage 50 runs in the first ten and made amends to score 98 in the last 10.

Bangladesh were ordinary in the field and their slow bowlers couldn’t find the elusive breakthrough. Their woes were compounded when Sharmin Akter grassed Matthews at short mid-wicket just at the time when Mathews was looking to up the ante.

Matthews looked in good touch and unleashed a variety of shots to keep the bowlers guessing. She swept well, got to the pitch of the ball and sent it back over the bowler’s head and tapped it fine as the bowlers couldn’t make an impact.

With both the openers looking well set, a huge score was on the offing however Bangladesh got the breakthrough when Akter beat Mathews all ends up for Nigar Sultana to do the rest behind the stumps.

Britney Cooper couldn’t get going and offered a return catch to Akter and the bowler accepted it with glee.

It soon became 98/3 when Taylor hit a full blooded Akter delivery only to find Lata Mondal at long on.

Stacy-Ann King joined Dottin and, for a brief while, Bangladesh were sent on a leather hunt.

Dottin picked Rumana Ahmed in the 17th over for three boundaries, including a shot that pierced the off-side between cover and extra cover to stamp her trademark aggression. However, Dottin was unable to maintain the momentum and Ahmed had the last laugh when Sultana stumped her in the 19th over, but the Windies by then had moved to a strong position.

Bangladesh, needing 149 to win, made their intentions clear when Sanjida Islam slammed Shamilia Connell for back-to-back boundaries in the first over. However, in the bid to up the ante, Islam sent Taylor to the deep mid-wicket boundary only to find Dottin who took a spectacular one-handed catch.

The West Indies spinners soon got into the act and strangulated the batters for room and Bangladesh started to choke under pressure. Their run-rate dropped and with the required rate soaring with every passing ball, Bangladesh crumbled.

Bangladesh moved to 54/2 in 10 overs and dramatically slumped from there. Matthews sent Salma Khatun and Fargana Hoque in two balls only for Taylor to remove Rumana Ahmed and Alam in the next over. From 54/2, Bangladesh were reeling at 73/6.

A Windies win was a mere formality from then on as Dottin sent the remaining batters one after the other as they triumphed by 49 runs in the end.

Brief scores: West Indies 148/4 in 20 overs (Hayley Matthews 41, Stafanie Taylor 40, Nahida Akter 3/27) bt Bangladesh 99 in 18.3 overs (Nigar Sultan Joty 27, Stafanie Taylor 3/13, Hayley Matthews 2/16, Deandra Dottin 2/17).

Player-of-the-match: S Taylor