Magnificent Taylor hammers ton as West Indies women crush Dutch

POTCHEFSTROOM, South Africa (CMC):

Stafanie Taylor, teenage Jamaican opener, scored a magnificent century as West Indies crushed the Netherlands by 148 runs to open their ICC Women's Challenge with a handsome victory yesterday.

The 19-year-old right-hander hit a superb 147 from 141 balls as West Indies, sent in to bat, rattled up 283 for six off their 50 overs at the Witrand Cricket Field.

West Indies then produced a stingy bowling effort, as they restricted the Dutch side to 135 for eight from their allotted 50 overs.

Tournament favourites

Entering the tournament as favourites by virtue of being the highest ranked side in the six-team competition, West Indies stamped their authority from early to send a strong signal to their other opponents. And it was Taylor who set the tone with a stroked-filled innings that contained 15 fours and a six.

She posted 50 from 49 balls for the first wicket with Juliana Nero, who scored 11, but West Indies still slid to 87 for three in the 16th over.

Taylor then anchored two key partnerships to keep West Indies alive. She gathered 80 for the fourth wicket with Stacy-Ann King, who struck 22, and then added another 113 for the fifth wicket with Deandra Dottin, who hammered 59.

While she dominated the stand with King, she was forced to share the limelight with Dottin, who matched her stroke for stroke in a partnership that required 95 balls.

Dottin, also a 19-year-old right-hander, lashed six fours and two sixes off a mere 58 balls as she stepped up the tempo at the end.

The Caribbean side's bowlers then strangled the Dutch's batting, drying up the scoring and keep runs to a minimum.

Opener Esther Lanser top-scored with 39, but needed 92 balls, while the other double-figure contributor, Helmien Rambaldo, required 40 balls for her 27. Medium pacer Dottin (2-15), off-spinner Anisa Mohammed (2-21) and fast bowler Shemaine Campbelle (2-28) claimed two wickets apiece, as the Netherlands crawled from 95 for two in the 30th over to 112 for seven in the 36th.

West Indies will now turn their attention to Ireland, who they face today at North-West University.

SCOREBOARD

WEST INDIES

S Taylor c Braat b Mariska Kornet 147J Nero lbw b Mariska Kornet 11C Jack c wkp Wattenberg b Tanke 17B Cooper c Brouwers b Lanser 2S King c Mariska Kornet b de Lange 22D Dottin run out 59+M Aguilleira not out 2S Campbelle not out 1Extras (b2, lb1, w19) 22TOTAL (6 wkts, 50 overs) 283

Did not bat: A Mohammed, S Selman, S Munroe.

Fall of wickets: 1-50 (Nero, 8.1 overs), 2-79 (Jack, 12.4), 3-87 (Cooper, 15.3), 4-167 (King, 32.4), 5-280 (Dottin, 48.3), 6-280 (Taylor, 48.4)

Bowling: Mariska Kornet 10-0-61-2, Braat 7-0-50-0, Brouwers 8-0-42-0, Tanke 7-0-43-1, Lanser 10-1-29-1, de Lange 8-0-55-1.

NETHERLANDS

E Lanser c Cooper b Dottin 39+V Wattenberg lbw b Mohammed 10H Rambaldo run out 27A Tanke b Campbelle 4M Nijman c Nero b Campbelle 0D Hannema not out 12M Veringmeier c King b Mohammed 9M Braat run out 4E de Lange c wkp Aguilleira b Dottin 3Mariska Kornet not out 1Extras (b5, lb8, w11, nb2) 26TOTAL (8 wkts, 50 overs) 135

Did not bat: L Brouwers.

Fall of wickets: 1-25 (Wattenberg, 13 overs), 2-69 (Lanser, 23.5), 3-95 (Rambaldo, 29.2), 4-95 (Tanke, 29.3), 5-96 (Nijman, 31.1), 6-105 (Veringmeier, 32.5), 7-112 (Braat, 35.1), 8-132 (de Lange, 46.4)

Bowling: Selman 9-1-16-0, Munroe 10-3-17-0, Mohammed 10-4-21-2, Jack 3-0-13-0, Dottin 7-1-15-2, King 1-0-12-0, Campbelle 10-2-28-2.

Result: West Indies won by 148 runs.

Points: West Indies 2, Netherlands 0.

Player-of-the-Match: Stafanie Taylor.

Toss: The Netherlands.

Umpires: M Kotze, B Mantle.