Women’s CPL: TKR keep hopes alive for final after beating Royals

Trinbago Knight Riders recorded their first win of the 2023 Massy Women’s Premier League (WCPL) at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad to keep alive their hopes of participating in the final game.
The Knight Riders beat the previously unbeaten Hayley Matthews’ Barbados Royals team 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 by winning the toss and opting to bat first. Deandra Dottin’s side applied pressure early with a strong PowerPlay, setting out to record a big score while keeping wickets in hand, and 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 after six overs, the hosts continued to pile 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.

Amanda-Jade Wellington prevented a higher score with very economical figures of 0/11 in the middle overs, while Matthews picked up a pair of wickets, one at each end of the innings, to finish with 2/23.
The Royals had already chased a score higher than this total in this year’s competition, but it wasn’t to be on this occasion, despite their threatening to do so throughout. Matthews came out firing, reaching her highest score of the WCPL this year with 45, before she was dismissed by 15-year-old Samara Ramnath on her T20 debut.

After a more supportive role initially, Irish international Lewis kicked on to 62, bringing up her 50 in 43 balls in another substantial knock for the Royals, after her 47 in match one.
With other overseas players Erin Burns and Laura Harris failing to get out of single figures, the wickets continued to fall for the Royals, and Lewis’s dismissal in the 18th over left them needing to up the run rate to 12 an over, but the innings fizzled out at the hands of 18 overs of spin from the Knight Riders. (CPL)