New Zealand women pulled off a thriller to win the 2nd T20I against the West Indies Women by 6 wickets, with one ball remaining, at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
Batting first, the West Indies posted 107/5 from their 20 overs. Kyshona Knight and Chinelle Henry struck a 31-run partnership when the Maroon Warriors needed it the most. Knight fell eight runs short of a half-century, she made 42, which included five fours. Chinelle Henry got the West Indies to triple figures with a blistering 18 runs from the last over, before being bowled by Hayley Jensen for 24 (22:2×4,1×6).
Jensen was the pick of the bowlers for New Zealand, finishing with figures of 4-0-24-3, followed by Eden Carson with 4-0-12-2. An unbeaten 54 from Suzie Bates and 21 from Amelia Kerr had New Zealand set for victory, but two wickets from Cherry-Ann Fraser in the 18th over, swung the match back in the West Indies favour. However, Lauren Down, 9, and Georgia Plimmer, 7 not out took New Zealand to victory with one ball to spare.
Fraser had the best bowling figures, finishing with 2.5-0-13-1 followed by Karishma Ramharack 4-0-23-1.
Kyshona Knight, speaking after the match, said: “I got a promotion to bat at (number) three, so my role was to bat as deep as possible. My plan was to back myself and to rotate the strike for the hitters and help get the team to a decent total. It was extremely hot there today, probably one of the hottest we’ve experienced so far, and the ball was holding on the pitch more than usual, so that made batting a bit tricky. We’re looking forward to regrouping and coming back tomorrow for the third match.” (CWI)