Windies Women’s ‘A’ team swept by Pakistan

The West Indies Women’s ‘A’ team ended their series winless against their Pakistan counterparts, following a seven-wicket loss in the third and final One-Day International at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua yesterday.

Asked to take first strike after losing the toss, West Indies Women managed to post 203 all out in 47.5 overs, with Qiana Joseph top-scoring with 48 from 56 balls with eight fours.

Sheneta Grimmond chipped with a fighting 40 from 48 balls with seven fours while Rachel Vincent and Shakibi Gajnabi chipped in with 22 runs apiece.

Karishma Ramharack was left not out on 21 from 33 balls against three wickets each for Aiman Anwar and Saba Nazir.

Alia Riax then hit an unbeaten 63 from 77 balls with eight fours to set up the win for the visitors, who raced to their target for the loss of just three wickets and 46 balls to spare.

Openers Javeria Rauf and Ayesha Zafar chipped in with 43 from 71 balls and 36 from 44 balls, respectively, while Sidra Nawaz was left unbeaten on 28.

Off-spinner Grimmond was the pick of the bowlers for West Indies Women ‘A’, bagging two wickets for 24 runs.

The West Indies Women had earlier lost the T20 series 3-0, and, despite going winless in the ODIs, head coach Courtney Walsh was pleased with the effort shown by the girls in their first competitive series.

“It was the first time that they have played together as a team, so it was good to get them out and playing and competing. I was pretty pleased to see the way how they went about it, and it’s a learning process. I believe they learnt a lot with every game, and the experience and exposure were good for them,” said Walsh.

YOUNGSTERS WITH GOOD PERFORMANCES

With the ICC Women’s World Cup coming up later this year, Walsh was happy to see some of the youngsters putting in good performances and putting their names in the hat with regards to selection to the senior squad.

“The good plus was someone like a Rashada Williams who came into the camp for the first time and found herself playing in the senior team, which is a good sign. Young Zaida James, who is just 16 years old, is definitely one for the future, and we have seen Mandy (Mangru) for the first time. There are other players as well, but those are a few of the younger ones we will be looking to,” added Walsh.