Galle, Sri Lanka – West Indies Women totally outplayed South Africa Women on Sunday to qualify for the semi-finals of the ICC Women’s World T20 tournament.
In one of the most dominant performances of the competition, West Indies were exceptional with the ball as South Africa could only make 70-8 off their 20 overs at the Galle International Cricket Stadium. The Windies then raced to the target off just 9.4 overs without losing a wicket for a comprehensive 10-wicket win – their biggest margin of victory in a T20 International.
The West Indies end the first round top of Group B with four points and will play in the semi-final match later this week at the R Premadasa Stadium. Their opponents will be confirmed when Group A is completed on Monday.
INTERIM WIPA (West Indies Players Association) CEO, Michael Hall, is optimistic that his organsiation and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) will be able to mend their fractious relationship following the appointment of Michael Muirhead as the new CEO of the regional cricket body.
WIPA and WICB former CEO, Dr Ernest Hilaire, have been at loggerheads throughout the St Lucian’s tenure with several matters having to be settled in court.
The relations between Hilaire and ex-WIPA CEO, Dinanath Ramnarine, was also a serious cause of concern with one report stating that a meeting between the two almost reached to blows.
PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka: Hosts Sri Lanka outsmarted the West Indies by nine wickets to move one step closer to a semi-final berth after winning their Super Eights group one match at Pallekele stadium on Saturday.
Sri Lankan spinners kept the West Indian big hitters to 129-5 in 20 overs before chasing the modest target in the 16th over for the loss of only one wicket to record their second win in the round of eight teams.
Mahela Jayawardene led the Sri Lankan reply with an unbeaten 65, sharing an unbroken 108-run stand for the second wicket with Kumar Sangakkara (39 not out) after Tillakaratne Dilshan fell for 13.
A century opening stand between Chris Gayle and Johnson Charles powered West Indies to their first win of the 2012 World Twenty20 with a 16-run victory against England in their opening Super Eights match. Their top-order batsmen setting a daunting total of 179 for 5 and their quartet of slow bowlers suffocated the England batsmen as they started their reply.
A remarkable fourth-wicket stand of 107 in 58 balls between Alex Hales, who scored 68 from 51 balls, and Eoin Morgan, who made a brilliant, unbeaten 71 from 36 balls, gave England an outside chance of victory, but the pair were left too much to do by another lacklustre performance from their top-order colleagues.
St John’s, Antigua – The Board of Directors of the West Indies Cricket Board, at its last meeting in Barbados, approved an annual development grant for the Combined Campuses and Colleges Programme.
The grant, to the tune of US$50,000, is similar to what is received by the six Territorial Boards on an annual basis from the WICB for the purposes of aiding the development of cricket in the various territories.
The CCC programme has become integral to the development of West Indies cricket since it was conceived in 2007. The CCC participates in the WICB senior men’s tournaments – Regional 4 Day, Super50 and Caribbean Twenty20.
“The CCC programme, in a very significant way, aids us in ensuring that some of our best talents do not have to compromise their education for cricket or vice versa,” WICB President, Dr. Julian Hunte said.
“The programme has become one which is at the forefront of global cricket as successfully merging formal higher education with cricket,” Dr. Hunte added.
“We have seen a number of players spend time in the CCC programme and then graduate to international level or return to their regional teams where they continue to compete at a very high level, and after they would have achieved academically as well. Most notably among them is Miles Bascombe,” observed Dr Hunte.
“We have seen too the professionalism and strong competition offered by the CCC in our various tournaments where they are quickly developing into a force to be reckoned with and can no longer be treated lightly by the other regional sides,” Dr. Hunte noted.
“I wish to commend CCC for calling on some of the best talent in the region to assist in refining the skills of the players, most notably their recruitment of the legendary Curtly Ambrose as their Bowling Consultant,” Dr. Hunte said.
“It is because we recognize the value that the CCC programme lends to regional cricket that the Board has agreed to lend financial support and we are certain that West Indies cricket will reap the rewards in years to come,” Dr. Hunte concluded.
