Trinbago Knight Riders 155/3 (Dottin 47, Du Preez 36; Matthews 2/23, Claxton 1/21) beat Barbados Royals 142/7 (Lewis 62, Matthews 45; James 2/34, Ramnath 1/13) by 13 runs

Trinbago Knight Riders recorded their first win of the 2023 Massy Women’s Premier League (WCPL) to keep their final hopes alive at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad.

The Knight Riders beat Hayley Matthews’ previously unbeaten Barbados Royals by 13 runs, meaning the winner of the final group match between the Knight Riders and the Guyana Amazon Warriors on Saturday will play the Royals in Sunday’s final.

The Knight Riders kept the theme going with winning the toss and opting to bat first. Deandra Dottin’s side applied pressure early with a strong PowerPlay setting up for a big score, keeping wickets in hand, eventually finishing on 155/3.

Gaby Lewis put up a good fight with a half-century in reply after a good start with Matthews but tight bowling eventually made 156 look too far away late on.

Knight Riders scored 33 runs inside two overs in the PowerPlay courtesy of quickfire starts from Marie Kelly and Kycia Knight. At 58/1 from six overs, the hosts continued to put on partnerships with low risk through the experience of captain Deandra Dottin and Mignon du Preez keeping the steady innings ticking over to reach 155/3 despite just one six in the innings.