West Indies win by eight wickets to secure first World Twenty20 crown
KOLKATA (India): Powerful half-centuries from Hayley Matthews and skipper Stafanie Taylor fired the West Indies to their maiden World Twenty20 crown in a thrilling last-over win against Australia in Kolkata on Sunday.
Chasing a competitive 149 for a win against the three-time champions, West Indies rode a blistering 120-run opening stand between Matthews (66) and Taylor (59) to triumph with three balls to spare.
The Windies won by eight wickets at the Eden Gardens stadium as they picked up their first win against Australia at their ninth attempt.
“Words can’t explain what I’m feeling right now. Means so much for us and especially the people of the Caribbean,” said Windies wicketkeeper Merissa Aguilleira.
Player of the match Matthews and Taylor, who looked determined from the word go, acquired 16 runs off the sixth over, including a humongous six from Matthews.
Women’s player of the #WT20 @stafanie20 says she has been waiting for this for a long time https://t.co/OCvUmclVrf pic.twitter.com/OSwjJEMKzS
— ICC Media (@ICCMediaComms) April 3, 2016
And the #WT20 trophy is theirs. Congratulations to #WI Women! An amazing achievement! #AusWvWIW pic.twitter.com/RKmF8tbQVS — ICC (@ICC) April 3, 2016
Hayley Matthews and Stafanie Taylor both struck half-centuries as West Indies beat three-times defending champions Australia by eight wickets to win the women’s World Twenty20 title at Eden Gardens on Sunday.
Matthews (66) and captain Taylor (59) added 120 for their opening stand as West Indies chased down a 148-run target with three balls to spare for their first win against the Southern Stars in nine attempts in World Twenty20.
Deandra Dottin, who took two wickets for 33, remained unbeaten on 18 to see West Indies through and spark wild celebrations among her team mates.
Australia’s Elyse Villani and captain Meg Lanning had both hit 52 and added 77 for the second wicket to take their side to 148 for five after they won the toss and opted to bat.
