West Indies women defeat Ireland in first T20I

WEST INDIES Women

defeated Ireland Women by 2 wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the three - match series at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground

Batting first , Ireland were restricted to 112/7 in their 20 overs , thanks to economical and accurate bowling by Hayley Matthews 4-0-22-3, Cherry-Ann Fraser 3-0-22-2 and debutant Ashmini Munisar 4-016-1 Ireland captain Laura Delany top-scored with 34 followed by Eimear Richardson with 22

In their run - chase , the West Indies lost wickets in consistent periods which slowed their scoring and forced it down to the last ball for a result Skipper Hayley Matthews top-scored with 37 followed by Afy Fletcher with a valuable 19 when the game looked like it was slipping away from the home team. But Vice-Captain Shemaine Campbelle guided the team to a final ball single and take victory

The West Indies Women won the first T20 by 2 wickets

Speaking after the match, Matthews said “ A lot of nerves coming down to the end but still a lot of positives we can take from today ’ s game . We did a good job restricting Ireland to 112 on a really good batting wicket Personally, I was happy to contribute to the win Ashmini Munisar making her debut, how economical she bowled and taking her first wicket was one of the posi- tives and it’s a good sign for the future.”

For fans unable to get to the games in St Lucia , the CG United ODI Series will be exclusively live on RUSH Sports in the Caribbean and on BT Sport in the UK & Ireland The matches will also be shown around the world on FanCode ( India ), ESPN + ( USA ), Sky NZ (NZ), SuperSport ( sub - Saharan Africa ) and in all other countries on the Windies Cricket YouTube channel

FULL SQUAD: Hayley Matthews (captain), Shemaine Campbelle (vice-captain ), Aaliyah Alleyne , Shamilia Connell, Chinelle Henry, Afy Fletcher, Cherry Ann Fraser , Shabika Gajnabi , Zaida James , Djenaba Joseph , Qiana Joseph, Ashmini Munisar, Stafanie Taylor, Rashada Williams,

T20 International Series:

1st T20I: West Indies won by 2 wickets

2nd T20I: Thursday July 6

3rd T20I: Saturday July 8