Massy WCPL 2024: Royals edge GAW to remain undefeated
Defending champions Barbados Royals have booked their place in the final of the 2024 Massy Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) with a 17-run victory over Guyana Amazon Warriors in a match played at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, Republic of Trinidad & Tobago.
In that encounter, in which ball dominated bat on a testing wicket under lights, the Royals were inserted after Warriors captain Lauren Winfield-Hill won the toss; and Hayley Matthews’s side struggled to break the infield or find the boundary in the early stages.
Matthews fell for just two runs after facing 13 deliveries, and the normally fluent Chamari Athapathu used up 27 deliveries for her 15 runs before being pinned lbw by Chloe Tryon.
It was hard going throughout the innings for the Royals in the face of tight bowling, with just 25 runs added in the PowerPlay and 33 on the board after the first ten overs.
Qiana Joseph produced a brilliant all- round performance
Erin Burns again starred for the Warriors, this time with the ball in hand, as she returned figures of 3/31 off her four overs.
The Royals eventually recorded a total of 101/8 off their twenty overs. Qiana Joseph top-scored for the 2023 champions with 19 runs, and the slow left-armer later pocketed 3/16 with the ball to cap a Player of the Match performance.
The Warriors found conditions equally as tough in their response. The Royals put the squeeze on, and showed their class and composure in defending a small target. When Erin Burns – the tournament’s top run-maker – was dismissed by Athapathu, the Warriors were on 44/5 in the twelfth over, and the game drifted out of sight for Winfield-Hill’s side.
The Royals have chalked up another win, and look increasingly strong in this year’s competition. It is now a case of who they will meet in Thursday’s final, with Trinbago Knight Riders and Guyana Amazon Warriors both tied on two points each.
Deandra Dottin’s Knight Riders have the chance to secure their place in the final, but would need to find a way to beat the undefeated and dominant Royals tomorrow night in order to do so. (CPLT20)
