Sports
Roneil Walcott
Left-arm spinner Steffie Soogrim had a superb spell of four for two to help TT to a nervy five-wicket victory over reigning champs Jamaica in their second game of the Cricket West Indies Women’s T20 Blaze at the Arnos Vale Playing Field in Kingstown, St Vincent, on May 3.
It was another low-scoring affair in the Women’s T20 Blaze tourney, as Jamaica were limited to a paltry 65 for nine, before TT got to 66 for five with four balls to spare.
The Jamaican batters found the going extremely tough against the spin and medium-pace bowling of the TT attack, and were reeling at nine for three in the eighth over. With wickets falling regularly, Windies allrounder Chinelle Henry (18) was the team’s top scorer, with Keneshia Ferron scoring 16.
Soogrim, who bowled 22 dot balls in her miserly four-over spell, saved her best work for her final over as she took three wickets as Jamaica slipped from 55 for five to 56 for eight. Ferron was the first to go in the over as she was caught at the wicket by Shunelle Sawh, while Henry was caught by TT captain Anisa Mohammed and Vanessa Watts (duck) was bowled with the final ball of Soogrim’s spell.
Shalini Samaroo also had an excellent spell with figures of two for eight.
TT’s chase started off on rocky ground, and they were 12 for three after the power play as Henry (three for eight) unleashed a fine spell of seam bowling. Henry trapped Rachael Vincent for a duck off the first ball of the innings, while Djenaba Joseph (one) and West Indies under-19 skipper Samara Ramnath were comprehensively bowled – the latter being undone by a peach of a yorker.
TT slid to 20 for four in the tenth over when Sawh (five) was dismissed by Jodian Morgan (two for 13). Mohammed (18) and veteran player Britney Cooper (30 not out) then put together 28 for the fifth wicket, with the former hitting the only boundary in the TT innings.
When Mohammed was caught at long-off off Morgan in the 17th over, TT were placed on 48 for five – still needing 18 off the last 18 balls.
Cooper held her nerve to get TT to their second straight win in the tournament, and she fittingly got the winning run when she cut Nicole Campbell to backward-point off the second ball of the final over.
TT will play Windwards in their third match of the competition from 2.30 pm on May 5. The Windwards fell to a seven-wicket loss to Guyana on May 3 – their second loss in as many matches.
Summarised Scores:
JAMAICA: 65/9 from 20 overs (Chinelle Henry 18, Keneshia Ferron 16; Steffie Soogrim 4/2, Shalini Samaroo 2/8) vs TT: 66/5 from 19.2 overs (Britney Cooper 30 not out, Anisa Mohammed 18; C Henry 3/8, Jodian Morgan 2/13). TT won by 5 wickets.
