WI women eye World Cup berth

The West Indies Women cricket team registered a convincing seven-wicket victory over Pakistan and are now on the verge of clinching the second qualifying berth for the World Cup tournament in South Africa next year. The highly ecstatic West Indies team will now need to win their final round match against lowly-rated Japan today to be assured of that historic place. With three victories in four matches, the West Indies women cricketers, led by Trinidadian Stephanie Powers, are second on the points table behind the unbeaten Ireland team who have  already clinched the first of two qualifying spots. Yesterday, Powers (wicketkeeper) won the toss and asked Pakistan to take first strike. The move paid handsome dividends as her bowlers Debbie Ann Lewis, Doris Francis, Verena Felicien and Indomatie Goordial produced remarkable spells to restrict the powerful Pakistanis to 93 all out off the allotted 50 overs.
S Sham 20 and Kiran Balauch 18 were the only ones to make an impression.

Guyanese 17-year-old Goordial was once again the bowling heroine and captured four wickets for 17 runs from her impressive 10-over spell. Francis snapped two for 21 from 10 overs while Lewis finished with one wicket for 15 from her seven-over stint. Felicien returned splendid figures of 10-1-15-0. In reply, West Indies raced to victory in the 34th over as Trinidadian star player Shane DeSilva remained unbeaten on 21 and was accompanied to the pavilion by the jubilant West Indians and Felicien who was also unbeaten with 12. Trinidadian Nelly Williams topscored with 27 while Nadine George contributed 16. The good news for the West Indian women cricketers was the defeat of host Holland that succumbed to the unbeaten Ireland outfit, which clinched the first of two qualifying berths to the 2004 World Cup. Ireland recorded the only victory over the West Indies team in the opening round encounter. Yesterday, they whipped hosts and pre-tournament favourites Holland by 48 runs in their rain-affected match played at The Hague. In the final round matches, Ireland will clash with neighbours Scotland, West Indies take on cellar-placed Japan while Holland will entertain Pakistan. All matches are carded for Amstelveen. The Japanese team is undoubtedly the weakest and West Indies coach Ann Brown-John is elated and overjoyed with the developments and her team’s position of securing the vital spot on the WC. Should there be a tie on points with the second and third place teams, there is a provision for a play-offs between the two teams to decide the other qualifier. Also provisions have been made tomorrow to a be reserve day should the final round matches today be affected by rain. On all accounts, West Indies are favourably placed for an historic achievement.
 
Summarised Scores:
PAKISTAN 93 all out off 50 overs (S. Sham 20, Kiran Balauch 18; Indomatie Goordial 4 for 17, Doris Francis 2 for 21, DebbieAnn Lewis 1 for 15) lost to WEST INDIES 94 for three wickets off 34 overs (Nelly Williams 27, Nadine George 16, Shane DeSilva 21 not out, Verena Felicien 12 not out).
Result: WI won by seven wickets.
IRELAND 156 off 50 overs. HOLLAND 86 for 8 off 41 overs. Rain-affected match. Reduced target was 134 off 41 overs.
Result: IRELAND won by 48 runs.
SCOTLAND 143 off 50 overs. JAPAN 83 all out.
Result: SCOTLAND won by 60 runs.
POINTS STANDINGS (After 4 rounds)
Ireland- 8
West Indies- 6
Holland- 4
Pakistan- 4
Scotland- 2
Japan- 0.