Barbados Royals secures spot in WCPL 2024 finals to defend Champions’ title

Barbados Royals team entered into the final of the Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) 2024 with three consecutive victories. The defending champions cleared their way after defeating the team of Guyana Amazon Warriors with a margin of 17 runs in the fifth match of the league.

The T20 match was held at the Verne of Brian Lara Cricket Stadium in Trinidad and Tobago. The low-scoring face-off between the Barbados Royals and Guyana Amazon Warriors was saved with the remarkable bowling performances.

Qiana Joseph, along with Captain Matthews, saved the day for the Royals and became the pillars of victory. Hayley Matthews led the team as a captain again consistently in the third match, but this time with the ball in her hand.

The match started with a flipping coin, which landed in the favour of Captain Lauren Winfield Hill of Guyana Amazon Warriors. The English-origin captain decided to ball first and chase last to make their claim strong for the spot in the final.

The pitch came out to be very bowler-friendly as the decision of Captain Lauren resulted positively for the team of Amazon Warriors. The women batsmen of Barbados Royals were able to score just 101 runs after the end of 20 overs after a loss of 8 wickets.

No one was able to add a major total of runs on the scoreboard, including Captain Hayley. The inning was opened by Hayley Matthews along with Chamari Athapaththu, who lost their wickets on the team’s total of 12 runs and 28 runs, respectively.

Captain Hayley failed to judge the balls on the field and got caught by Natasha McLean while facing her thirteenth ball from Sheneta Grimmond. She departed after scoring just 2 runs. The highest personal score for the Barbados Royals was 19 runs.

The highest and the most runs collected by one player was by Qiana Joseph, who played 26 balls and got dismissed by Erin Burn. She also hit two boundaries in the inning. Erin Burn ended her spell of 4 overs with 3 and also most wickets for Guyana.

After the end of the first inning, the Barbados Royals team was on a weaker side. The team of Guyana Amazon Warriors just needed to score an assumably chasable target of 102 runs. The second inning was opened by Captain Lauren Winfield Hill along with Shenata Grimmond.

In order to defend a weak total of 102 runs, Captain Hayley Matthews hit the ground with her bowlers and the bowling-friendly nature of the pitch in favor. While defending, all the players kept themself active on the field and restricted the run rate with tight bowling.

Four out of six bowlers completed their spells of 4 overs, who all kept their economy rate under 4.00. The chasing team was dominated by two bowlers, Hayley Matthews and Qiana Joseph, who together added 7 wickets on their names.

Captain Hayley Matthews, while continuing her consistent bowling performance, took 4 wickets of Shemaire Campbelle, Erin Burns, Natasha McLean, and Karishma Ramharack. She gave 14 runs in her spell with an economy rate of 3.50.

On the other end, Qiana Joseph collected 3 wickets after giving 16 runs with an economy rate of 4.00. she dismissed Captain Lauren Winfield Hill, Ashmini Munisar, and Shabnim Ismail. With the contributed efforts, Barbados Royals restricted the Amazon Warriors to a total of 84 runs.

The chasing team lost 9 wickets after the conclusion of 20 overs and was left behind by 17 runs to win the match. For the all-rounder’s performance in batting and bowling, Qiana Joseph was the Player of the Match and received an award.

After losing against Barbados Royals, Guyana Amazon Warriors ended their venture in the league stage after competing in 4 fixed matches. Out of four fixtures, Amazon Warriors won only one match against the Trinbago Knight Riders.

Guyana Amazon Warriors will now keep their eyes on the face-off between Barbados Royals and Trinbago Knight Riders. Trinbago Knight Riders need to win the last match of the league to ensure their spot in the final of WCPL 2024.

If Trinbago Knight Riders lose the match against Barbados Royals, Guyana Amazon Warriors will get straight entry to the final on the basis of a better Net Run Rate. Anyhow, the Royals will play the WCPL 2024 final to defend their title on Friday, 29 August.