Sports

WI WIN FINAL GAME AGAINST IRELAND

by David Harris

The West Indies defeated Ireland by 197 runs in the final game of the three-match One Day International (ODI) series at Castle Avenue ground, in Clontarf, Dublin on Sunday. Batting first after Ireland won the toss and opted to field, the West Indies scored 385 runs for five wickets off 50 overs, their second highest total in ODI cricket.

Man of the Match Keacy Carty blasted 170 runs off 142 balls (his second successive century in the series), the right-handed batsman struck 15 fours and eight sixes, and shared a third wicket partnership of 137 runs with captain Shai Hope after the West Indies were wobbling at 31 for two wickets at the end of the fifth over.

Hope scored an attractive run- a- ball 75 that included nine fours and two sixes, but Carty was the centrepiece of the West Indies’ innings as slammed the Irish bowlers to around the ground.

Justin Greaves made 59 from 23 balls as the West Indies scored 132 runs in the last eight overs, the third- most by any team in a men’s ODI where ball by ball data is available.

The match was threatened by incremented weather and delayed by rain on two occasions, a third delayed was caused when Carty struck a ball over the ropes that hit a member of the television crew.

Fast bowler Barry MacCarty captured three wickets for 100 runs from ten expensive overs, and medium pacer Liam MacCarty took two wickets for 93. Two of Ireland’s bowlers were injured during the match; left-arm seamer Josh Little suffered a leg injury, and debutant right-arm medium pacer Jordan Neill left the field in the 21^st over after hurting his shoulder.

Chasing a mammoth total of 386 runs to win the match and the series, Ireland scored 165 in in 29.5 overs, fast bowler Jayden Seales made an immediate when he bowled opener Andy Balbirnie for three runs in the second over.

Captain Paul Stirling (26) smashed three fours and a pair of sixes before he was dismissed by Seales with the first ball of the eighth over, and the Irishmen were in deep trouble at 40 for three wickets when Seales bowled Harry Tector for a duck with the final delivery of the same over.

Cade Carmichael (48) and Lorcan Tucker (29) offered resistance by adding 72 runs for the fifth wicket, but once they were dismissed within ten balls of each other, the West Indies aided by the runouts of Andy McBrine (28) and Barry McCarthy (0) the West Indies were on the path to victory with Little and Neill unable to bat. Seales captured three wickets for 26 runs from 5.5 overs.

The series was drawn 1-1 after the second ODI which was played at the same venue on Friday ended in a no-decision due to rain; the West Indies scored 352 for eight wickets, Carty scored 102, and Matthew Forde smashed 58 runs off 19 balls to equal A.B De Villiers of South Africa record for the fastest half-century in ODI cricket.

The West Indies next assignment is a three-match ODI series against England starting at Edgbaston on Thursday.

Sports

BARBADIAN GOLFER EMILY ODWIN IN US WOMEN’S OPEN TODAY

Article by David Harris

Barbadian golfer Emily Odwin will create history today, Thursday when she tees off in the US Women’s Open at Erin Hills Golf Course in Washington County, Wisconsin.

Odwin, 21, a junior at Southern Methodist University (SMU) will become the first Barbadian to play in a US Open golf tournament.

Odwin will play at the tournament as an amateur, she qualifies for the tournament after an outstanding performance at the prestigious Olympic Club Lake Course in San Franciso earlier this month; after delivering a composed and consistent showing across two 18-hole rounds to finish at three-under-par tying for first place with American Sarah Lim.

Spaniard Paula Martin Sampedro who finished one behind Odwin and Lim also qualified for the Open.

Odwin, a former student of St Winfred’s School and Queen’s College grew up on the West Coast in St James, she loved to swim at the age of four. Odwin enjoyed all kind of sports and even got a brown belt in karate.

She became interested in golf after watching Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth on television with her father.

At the age of 11 Odwin began to focus her attention on golf, the competitive scene for sport was limited with few official tournaments, and even fewer competitions for girls to participate in. Odwin needed to find alternatives to push herself:

“As I got older and as I got better, it was tougher for me to find competition and I had to travel outwards. I started to come to the United States, or I had to go to Europe. When I was at home, I started having to play with boys a lot. I would have to play in their division off their tees. There are not a lot of girls playing golf in Barbados and there weren’t a lot of competitive opportunities back home”, Odwin told journalists in the United States.

Odwin is proud of her culture and plans to wear an embroidered flag of Barbados on her polo shirt at the US Open.

“I just want to inspire kids back home that golf is possible. You never know how far you can go until you try”, Odwin said.

Sports

RUN/WALK/CYCLE SUNDAY JUNE 1ST

National Senior Games 2025 Road Races this Sunday beginning at 6 am, Mighty Grynner Highway.

Sports

HAYLEY SHINES BUT WI WOMEN LOST 3RD INT’L SERIES

By David Harris

An outstanding performance with the bat and ball by captain Hayley Matthews was not enough to prevent the West Indies Women from losing the third T20I in the International series against England by 17 runs at the County Ground, Chelmsford on Monday; and being whitewashed in the series.

Chasing 145 runs to win the match, the West Indies were restricted to 127 runs for eight wickets. Matthews scored 71 runs including 11 fours and a six while Realeanna Grimmond and Shabika Gajnabi contributed 15 and 14 runs respectively.

Fast bowler Laureen Bell picked up two wickets for 11 runs from four parsimonious overs, medium pacer Emily Arlott, off-spinner Charlottle Dean and left-arm spinner Linsey Smith also took two wickets.

England scored 144 for five wickets after the West Indies won the toss and decided to field, Heather Knight made 67 not out and newly appointed captain Nat Sciver-Brunt contributed 37. Matthew captured three wickets for 32 runs with her off-spin.

The West Indies badly beaten by their host in the three-match series, they slumped to eight-and nine -wickets losses in the first two T20Is. The regional team appear to be a one –woman team at the moment, Matthews the player of series scored 177, more than all her teammates put together.

In the first T20I Matthews scored an unbeaten century out of the West Indies score of 146, in addition to her outstanding batting, Matthew captured four wickets in the series.

The two teams will now play a three-match One Day International series which will begin on May 30^th.