Matthews, Tyron help Royals to victory over GAW Women

Both camps of the Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW) proved to be plagued by ill-fortune as they contested the SKYEXCH 6ixty on Saturday, as the Female Warriors suffered back-to-back losses that were similar to those suffered by their male compatriots.
Playing the same opposition once again, the Women Warriors found it difficult to post a competitive total against the Barbados Royals when they won the toss and opted to bat first at Warner Park in Basseterre, St Kitts and Nevis.

Promoted up the order, Guyana’s Shemaine Campbelle and Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu found it difficult to spark a quick start for the Warriors. After hitting one boundary in her 9 from 8 balls, Athapaththu found herself walking back to the dugout, compliments of the Royals’ Quiana Joseph.
A boundary in the third over off the bat of Warriors’ Captain Stafanie Taylor was the only one in four overs, as the female Warriors struggled to find the big shots that the SKYEXCH 6ixty is all about.

Shakera Selman and Afy Fletcher of the Royals kept things tight in the middle, before their Captain Hayley Matthews sent Campbelle packing for 13 runs from 17 balls.
At 2-34, with seven overs down, Taylor became conscious that the innings was getting away from the Warriors. Three boundaries later, she looked good for a late flurry that would get the Warriors to a competitive total. However, consistent wicket-taking by the Royals were the Warriors’ undoing.
Chedean Nation went in the 9th for 2 runs, then Taylor had no choice but to go, after coming up short in pursuit of a single. Shabika Gajnabi fell prey to another run-out in the very next ball.
In the fifth ball of the 10th, Zaida Jones found herself being choked by Selman’s bowling. The appeal came from bowler and wicket-keeper, and before Jones knew it, she was out LBW one ball shy of the Warriors’ allotted 10th over.

With 58 runs to defend, the GAW Women came out hunting wickets. They were successful when Shamilia Connell got rid of Britney Cooper for 1 run, but that wicket made way for a formidable partnership between Matthews and South Africa’s Chloe Tyron, which eventually led the Bajan franchise home.
Matthews entertained with 25 from 18 balls, including three 4s; while Tyron got the ball across the boundary twice in her innings of 27 from 21. The pair made overhauling the Warriors’ total look easy as they raced to 59 runs in 7.3 overs, and had 5 wickets to spare.
With each Women’s team finishing with two victories in the preliminary round, it is unlikely that the Women Warriors would feature in the final of the Women’s 6ixty, given the other teams’ superior run-rate.
The Women’s 6ixty Final will be played today at the same venue at 3pm local time, before the Men’s finals starts at 5.30pm.