Trinidad and Tobago Red Force women got their second win of the 2024 women's regional T20 Blaze on Thursday. They escaped with a narrow two-wicket victory against Windward Islands in a low-scoring encounter at Warner Park in Basseterre, St Kitts.
Windwards entered the match on the back of consecutive losses, and did themselves no favours with the bat after being inserted by the Red Force women, as they were bowled out for a meagre 81 in their 20 overs.
In reply, Red Force scraped their way to victory with ten balls to spare to add to their victory against Leeward Islands on Tuesday.
With the ball, spin bowler Shalini Samaroo led the way for Red Force with figures of three for 14, and rocked the Windwards middle order with the wickets of Zaida James (seven), Kimone Homer (13) and Nerissa Crafton (duck).
Red Force captain Karishma Ramharack also had a tidy spell with the ball and chipped in with figures of two for 14 as her team stifled the Windwards' batting lineup.
Opening batter Jannillea Glasgow (36 off 45 balls) was the only Windwards batter who showed quality, battling throughout the innings before being run out by Caneisha Isaac in the final over.
Chasing the low total, the Red Force batters had similar struggles and it took a brilliant knock of 43 off 43 balls from middle-order batter Djenaba Joseph to help guide her team to victory.
Red Force were reeling at five for three in the fifth over when Joseph came to the crease, after James (three for ten) caused havoc in the power play with her left-arm spin. Joseph and Britney Cooper (ten) consolidated the innings for a short period with a 27-run partnership, but TT lost wickets at regular intervals as Windwards threatened to land their first scalp in the tourney.
Red Force slipped to 62 for seven in the 16th over after the dismissal of Selene O'Neil (five), but Joseph and new batter Kirbyina Alexander (13 not out) added 18 for the eighth wicket as TT neared the target.
With TT needing two more runs for victory, Joseph was trapped lbw by Pearl Etienne. In the penultimate over, though, Alexander put the nerves to bed when she dispatched a full toss from Glasgow to the square leg boundary for four.
TT will go after their third straight victory when they meet CG United Super50 winners, Jamaica, from 10 am in Basseterre on Saturday.
SUMMARISED SCORES:
WINDWARD ISLANDS: 81 from 20 overs (Jannillea Glasgow 36, Kimone Homer 13; Shalini Samaroo 3/14, Karishma Ramharack 2/14) vs TT: 84/8 from 18.2 overs (Djenaba Joseph 43, Kirbyina Alexander 13 not out; Zaida James 3/10, Pearl Etienne 1/6). TT won by 2 wickets.
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