AFTER being bowled out for a paltry score of 66 in their opening regional women's T20 Blaze game on Sunday, the TT Red Force Divas rebounded resoundingly on March 19 when they hammered Leeward Islands by nine wickets in their second encounter to get their first win of the competition.

Leewards won the toss and batted first at Warner Park in Basseterre, St Kitts, but their innings never got off the ground as they were restricted to 78 for six in their allotted 20 overs.

Jahzara Claxton top-scored with 25 not out off 36 balls, with Divya Saxena chipping in with 17. The TT bowlers shared the wickets evenly, with five bowlers taking one wicket apiece. Spinner Steffie Soogrim was the pick of the TT bowlers, as she had the miserly figures of one for six from her four overs. Soogrim's lone scalp was that of dangerous opener Reniece Boyce (duck), who scored 67 for the Leewards on Sunday in a victory over defending champions Barbados.

In the chase, TT made light work of the target as they got to 79 for one after 11.4 overs - clinching the massive victory with 50 balls to spare.

Britney Cooper was dismissed in the fifth over by Shawnisha Hector after making a breezy 21 off 16 balls. The pair of Shunelle Sawh (20 off 27 balls) and Djenaba Joseph (22 off 28 balls) got TT comfortably over the line, though, as they shared an unbeaten 43-run stand for the second wicket to give TT their second victory over the Leewards in the space of a week following a four-wicket win in the Super50 tournament on March 13.

On March 21, TT will meet the Windward Islands in their third T20 Blaze match from 10 am at the Basseterre venue.

Summarised Scores

LEEWARDS 78/6 (20 overs) - Jahzara Claxton 25, Divya Saxena 17, Shebani Bhaskar 13; Steffie Soogrim 1/6, Samara Ramnath 1/13 vs TT 79/1 (11.4 overs) - Djenaba Joseph 22 not out, Britney Cooper 21, Shunelle Sawh 20 not out; Shawnisha Hector 1/10. TT won by 9 wickets.

BARBADOS 123/5 (20 overs) - Trishan Holder 68 not out, Aaliyah Alleyne 28; Zaida James 2/28, Pearl Etienne 1/15 vs WINDWARDS 104/8 (20 overs) - Afy Fletcher 28, Namiah Marcellin 19, Tracy Byron 13; Erin Deane 2/12, Aaliyah Alleyne 2/17. Barbados won by 19 runs.

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