121/6 (20.0)
CR : 6.05
164/6 (20.0)
CR : 8.20
Australia Women won by 43 runs 🏆
Player of the Match
Beth Mooney
79(55)
Over 20
West Indies Women 121/6
Jannillea Glasgow0(2)
Chinelle Henry12(16)
Georgia Wareham2-14(3.0)
AUS-W won by 43 runs
7:23 AM IST, 9:53 PM Local Time | Australia Women get off to the perfect start under the new leadership of Sophie Molineux with a 43-run victory in the first WT20I to take a 1-0 lead in this series!
Australia Women won the toss and elected to bat first! After a shaky start, the partnership of 99 runs for the third wicket between Beth Mooney (79) and Ellyse Perry (36) powered Australia Women to establish a total of 164/6 at the end of their 20 overs. These were the only 2 batters to cross the double-digit mark.
For West Indies, Deandra Dottin was their best bowler with 3/35 from 4 overs, followed by Chinelle Henry, who picked up 2/28 from her 4 overs.
Come the chase, West Indies Women got off to a steady start, losing no wickets in the powerplay. Alana King opened Australia's account with the ball, with the wicket of Hayley Matthews (11). Qiana Joseph (45) and Shemaine Campbelle (15) carried the chase until the drinks break, and the match was well balanced until then.
However, the Windies completely lost the plot after drinks as they started to lose wickets in a flurry. Qiana Joseph was the first to go as Kim Garth picked up the prized wicket. Alana King delivered a double wicket-maiden to remove Shemaine Campbelle and Deandra Dottin (0).
With the West Indies struggling at 76/4, there was little chance that they could come back in this game as Stafanie Taylor got off to a slow start with only the lower-middle order to support her. Eventually, Taylor was dismissed by Wareham for 28 runs in the last over. Wareham picked up the wicket of Claxton (0), 2 balls later, to wrap up this game.
A clinical performance from Australia Women, but they were a bit lucky that numerous dropped chances did not affect the result. They will need to improve upon this in the second WT20I, with the West Indies keen to make a strong comeback.
With the West Indies struggling at 76/4, there was little chance that they could come back in this game as Stafanie Taylor got off to a slow start with only the lower-middle order to support her. Eventually, Taylor was dismissed by Wareham for 28 runs in the last over. Wareham picked up the wicket of Claxton (0), 2 balls later, to wrap up this game.
A clinical performance from Australia Women, but they were a bit lucky that numerous dropped chances did not affect the result. They will need to improve upon this in the second WT20I, with the West Indies keen to make a strong comeback.
Time for the post-match presentation ceremony..
Player of the Match: Beth Mooney
Beth Mooney (Player of the Match): "[How pleased is she with her knock tonight?] Pretty tough early on. But if you stuck into it and trusted your process, you will get through it.
[On being the best batter in T20Is] Yeah, it's obviously been a great career for me so far and thoroughly enjoyed playing for Australia and hopefully, some runs are there for me going ahead.
[On the series as a preparation ahead of the World Cup] It's a great feeling to contribute. West Indies are a great team and it's a great preparation for us ahead of the World Cup in June. Very important for us and happy to start off with a win.
[On being the best batter in T20Is] Yeah, it's obviously been a great career for me so far and thoroughly enjoyed playing for Australia and hopefully, some runs are there for me going ahead.
[On the series as a preparation ahead of the World Cup] It's a great feeling to contribute. West Indies are a great team and it's a great preparation for us ahead of the World Cup in June. Very important for us and happy to start off with a win.
Hayley Matthews (West Indies Women Captain): "[ On the result ] We started really well with the ball, we thought 160 would be a good score to chase. Happy with the bowlers, especially with the pacers.
[ On the conditions ] It looked alright to be fair, as the first innings went on, it slowed up a touch, and it picked up again towards the middle of the game. We just could not execute what we wanted.
[ On the next game ] We must come back strongly and pick ourselves up. We have been disappointing with the bat in the last few matches, and we need to figure out ways to score."
[ On the conditions ] It looked alright to be fair, as the first innings went on, it slowed up a touch, and it picked up again towards the middle of the game. We just could not execute what we wanted.
[ On the next game ] We must come back strongly and pick ourselves up. We have been disappointing with the bat in the last few matches, and we need to figure out ways to score."
Sophie Molineux (Australia Women Captain): "[ On the result ] It does feel good to win. Nice to get out here and play, and nice to take home the win.
[ On the conditions ] They bowled really well, they had a bit of a hold, but we bounced back with Mooney and Pez's partnership. It was one of the things we spoke about before the game, just trying to build partnerships, and I am happy they did.
[ On the performance of the team ] We'll try to clean that up in the next game. King was brilliant, and I felt Kim, she played a major role in the powerplay. Most of our bowlers bowled well today.
[ On plans for tomorrow ] We might catch a ferry and go to the islands."
[ On the conditions ] They bowled really well, they had a bit of a hold, but we bounced back with Mooney and Pez's partnership. It was one of the things we spoke about before the game, just trying to build partnerships, and I am happy they did.
[ On the performance of the team ] We'll try to clean that up in the next game. King was brilliant, and I felt Kim, she played a major role in the powerplay. Most of our bowlers bowled well today.
[ On plans for tomorrow ] We might catch a ferry and go to the islands."
That wraps up our coverage of this game. Keep joining us for more cricketing action all around the globe. This is Akshay Bhide, signing off, on behalf of my co-commentator Anirudh Modi and scorer Sachin Yadav. See you at the next one!