Sports

Matthews leads West Indies to thrilling 4-wicket win over Sri Lanka

The West Indies defeated Sri Lanka by four wickets in a low-scoring thriller at the Western Province Cricket Club.

Sri Lanka scored 107 all out in 20 overs. Nilakshi Silva top-scored with 29 (26) followed by Harshitha Samarawickrama 16 (20). Hayley Matthews finished with figures of 4-0-17-3 followed by Afy Fletcher with 4-0-12-2. West Indies got to the 108-run target with two balls to spare, thanks to a top-score of 46 (48) from skipper Hayley Matthews and 16 (14) not out from Chinelle Henry. Bowling for Sri Lanka Kaveesha Dilhari finished with figures of 3-0-11-1 and Malsha Shehani with 2-0-11-1.

Speaking after the match Hayley Matthews told CWI Media, “It was good to have a decent all-round performance today from a personal perspective. From a team aspect, I think the bowlers did a fantastic job to restrict them to 107, as we know they’ve got a couple batters who can really fire up. We still have areas to improve on, but the win will no doubt give us a boost heading into our first official match against England on Saturday.”

The West Indies will take on England Women on Saturday February 11 at Boland Park in Paarl. First ball is at 3pm (9am Eastern Caribbean/8am Jamaica)

The eighth edition of the marquee event will begin on 10 February with hosts South Africa taking on Sri Lanka. West Indies have been drawn in Group 2 alongside England, India, Pakistan and Ireland.

Newlands, Cape Town; Boland Park, Paarl and St. George’s Park, Gqeberha are the host venues for the tournament with both semi-finals and final being played in Cape Town on 26 February.

ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Group 2 West Indies Match schedule

11 February: vs England, Boland Park, Paarl, 3pm (9am Eastern Caribbean/8am Jamaica)

15 February: vs India, Newlands, Cape Town, 3pm (9am Eastern Caribbean/8am Jamaica)

17 February: vs Ireland, Newlands, Cape Town,7pm (1pm Eastern Caribbean/12noon Jamaica)

19 February: vs Pakistan, Boland Park, Paarl, 3pm (9am Eastern Caribbean/8am Jamaica)

Sports

BARBADOS WINS CWI RISING STARS UNDER-19 CHAMPIONSHIP

by David Harris

Defending champions Barbados defeated Guyana by 44 runs to retain their title in Cricket West Indies (CWI) Rising Stars Under-19 Championship at the Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua on Wednesday.

Needing to avoid defeat in their fifth and final match of the tournament to clinch the title, the Barbadian lads scored 209 for eight wickets, before bowling out Guyana for 160 in 45.3 overs.

Barbados were wobbling at 71 for four wickets, after winning the toss and opting to bat. Captain Justin Parris made an attractive 38 runs from 40 balls, the left-handed batsman struck five fours, but his dismissal in the sixteenth over left Barbados in a precarious position. Seth Smith (47) and Rajeev Parsooram (21) repaired the early damage with a crucial fifth-wicket partnership of 61 runs, before Parsooram was dismissed by left-arm pacer Brandon Henry.

After Parsooram’s wicket fell; Smith added 40 vital runs for the sixth wicket with Yuvraj Persaud who made 19, Smith’s rearguard inning ended innings ended when he was dismissed by Henry in the 43rd over, the wicketkeeper/ batsman faced 75 balls and counted four boundaries. Asher Brandford 18 and Zarell Harding 15 not out ensured that Barbados posted a total over 200 runs.

Medium pacer Reyaz Laif took three wickets for 34 runs, he was supported by fast bowler Usain Fredericks two wickets for 53 runs,, and Henry who picked up two wickets for 24 runs.

Chasing 210 for victory, Guyana slumped to 55 for five wickets in the 17^th over as the Bajan bowlers took early wickets; but a defiant knock of 50 runs from Henry briefly give the Guyanese hope. Henry faced 88 balls and lead a lower resistance that saw Guyana to 156 for eight wickets before he was bowled by Parsooram. After Henry was dismissed Guyana’s innings ended quickly.

Brandford captured three wickets for 19 runs with his medium pace; he was supported by fellow medium pacers Joshua Thomas and Parsooram with two wickets for 35 runs and 19 runs respectively, while Parris picked up two wickets with his leg-spin.

Sports

JAYDEN WINS GOLD AT CARIFTA GAMES

by David Harris

Jayden Green captured Barbados’ lone gold medal at the 52nd CARIFTA Games which ended at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, in Mucrapo, Trinidad on Monday night. The 17-year-old student of the Christ Church Foundation School won the Under-20 Boys’ 200 metres at the three -day track and field meeting in 20,93 seconds ahead of Jamaicans Tyreece Foreman (20.95) and Junior Galimore (21.01); Green is the first Barbadian to win the event since Mario Burke in 2015.

The rest of team collected five silver and eight bronze medals with several athletes recording personal best. Barbados won 14 medals at the games, their best performance since the 2016 Games in Grenada where they won 20 medals.

Sports

GET READY FOR THE NATIONAL SENIOR GAMES

Calendar lists all the events from May to September 2025

NATIONAL SENIOR GAMES field events will begin on Saturday, May 31, at Queen’s College, Husbands, St. James, while the road races, involving running, cycling, walking, and skating, will take place on Sunday, June 1, on the Mighty Grynner Highway. Monday, June 9, will see the culmination of the track events at the Usain Bolt Sports Complex.