Barbados Women formally bowed out of the Commonwealth Games Women’s Twenty20 cricket tournament on Wednesday in Birmingham, England, after pacer Renuka Singh ran through their top order and India beat them by 100 runs to qualify for the semi-finals.
Chasing 163 to win, the Barbadian batting failed to fire, and they were restricted to 62 for eight from their allocation of 20 overs in the final Group “A” match at the world renowned Edgbaston Cricket Ground.
Kyshona Knight was the top scorer for Barbados Women with 16, and Shakera Selman was not out on 12 – but seven others failed to reach double figures with Singh undermining them with 4-10 in her allotted four overs.
The Barbadians knew they were courting danger when Singh struck with the third ball of the innings, removing big-hitting opener Deandra Dottin for a duck.
She added the scalps of captain Hayley Matthews for nine, Kycia Knight for three, and Aaliyah Alleyne for a duck in quick succession to reduce Barbados Women to 19 for four in nine overs – from which they never recovered.
Earlier, none of the Barbadian bowlers made an impact, and India reached 162 for four from their 20 overs after they were sent in to bat.
Pacer Shakera Selman was the most economical of the Barbados Women bowlers, taking 1-20 from her four overs, but Jemimah Rodrigues hit an unbeaten 56 off 46 balls and opener Shafali Verma made 43 off 26 balls to power the Indians.
The Barbadians ended the tournament third in Group A on two points after they prevailed over Pakistan by 15 runs in their opening match this past Friday.
World champions Australia topped the group with six points and India were runners-up on four points, and these two will advance to the semi-finals to be played on Saturday.
Summarised scores:
India Women 162 for four off 20 overs (Jemimah Rodrigues 56 not out, Shafali Verma 43, Deepti Sharma 34 not out).
Barbados Women 62 for eight off 20 overs (Kyshona Knight 16, Shakera Selman 12 not out; Renuka Singh 4-10).
(AR)