KOLKATA, April 3: In a historic first, the West Indies women�s cricket team ended three-time defending champions Australia�s domination by winning the ICC World T20 title with an emphatic eight-wicket victory in the final here today.
The foundation of the successful chase was laid by a 120-run partnership by openers Hayley Matthews (66 off 45) and skipper Stafanie Taylor (59 off 57), who helped the team chase a stiff target of 149. The moment the West Indies reached the target courtesy an overthrow, the entire dugout jumped in joy as the team joined the two not out batswomen, Britney Cooper and Deandra Dottin, in the middle.
What made the celebrations more special was the men�s team, led by captain Darren Sammy, bowling coach Curtley Ambrose and all-rounder Andre Russell joined everyone in congratulating the girls.
The girls, as promised to Dwayne Bravo, danced to the beats of the all-rounder�s latest rap compilation �Champion�.
It was also the West Indies� first win over Australia in nine T20 Internationals.
Hayley was the star of their chase with a career-best innings while Stafanie continued her sublime form with a solid knock.
After Hayley holed out at the midwicket in the 16th over, the West Indies needed 29 from 26 balls and the equation went down to 14 from the last 2 overs but the experienced Dottin made sure that the team got home comfortably.
With three needed from the last over, Dottin took a single to give the strike to Cooper who ran a quick single and Aussies narrowly missed the stump as they completed the winning run from the overthrow. � PTI
SCORECARD
Australia: A Healy c & b Matthews 4, E Villani c Taylor b Dottin 52, M Lanning lbw b Mohammed 52, E Perry b Dottin 28, A Blackwell not out 3, E Osborne run out (King/Dottin) 0, J Jonassen not out 0. Extras: (B 4, LB 2, W 3) 9. Total: (5 wickets; 20 overs) 148. Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-92, 3-134, 4-147, 5-147. Bowling: S Connell 2-0-15-0, H Matthews 2-0-13-1, S Taylor 3-0-26-0, D Dottin 4-0-33-2, A Fletcher 1-0-9-0, A Mohammed 4-0-19-1, S Quintyne 4-0-27-0.
West Indies: H Matthews c Blackwell b Beams 66, S Taylor c Jonassen b Farrell 59, D Dottin not out 18, B Cooper not out 3. Extras: (LB-2, WD-1) 3. Total (For 2 wickets in 19.3 overs) 149. Fall of wickets: 1-120, 2-144. Bowling: J Jonassen 4-0-26-0, E Perry 3.3-0-27-0, M Schutt 3-0-26-0, R Farrell 4-0-35-1, K Beams 4-0-27-1, E Osborne 1-0-6-0. � PTI
