Cricket News

New Zealand Women continued their ruthless run and handed Windies Women their fourth consecutive loss of the tour on Wednesday (March 14). In the first T20I, the hosts sealed an eight-run win to take a 1-0 lead at the Bay Oval after sweeping the ODI series 3-0. Set 168, Windies could manage just 159 for 6 to continue their poor run.

Put in, New Zealand were dented early when they lost Sophie Devine for just six in the third over. However, the early success didn't last long for Windies as Suzie Bates (49) and Katey Martin (54) collaborated to score 76 for the second wicket to get the innings going. Bates fell on the first ball of the 12th over but Amy Satterthwaite ensured the momentum wasn't lost.

She hammered 36 off 19 to take the team past 140 in the 16th over. However, once she was dismissed, the innings wobbled and the hosts had to settle for 167 for 6.

In the chase, Merissa Aguilleira made things tough for her team as she struggled her way to 5 off 14. Despite that, Windies got off to a promising start as Hayley Matthews attacked early on. By the end of the Powerplay, Windies had 42 on the board and looked set to give New Zealand a tough time.

Matthews, however, failed to convert her start into a big score as she fell in the ninth over with 60 on the board. One wicket was all New Zealand needed to hammer the door open. Stafanie Taylor, who cracked a fifty, kept losing partners and couldn't inject the much-needed momentum in the chase.

Leigh Kasperek picked up three wickets while Devine made up for the failure with the bat with two wickets. The two teams will now meet in the second T20I of the five-match series on March 16.

Brief scores: New Zealand 167/6 in 20 overs (Katey Martin 54, Suzie Bates 49; Deandra Dottin 2-23) beat Windies 159/6 in 20 overs (Hayley Matthews 53, Stafanie Taylor 51*; Leigh Kasperek 3-35) by eight runs.