Guyana Amazon Warriors women’s captain Stafanie Taylor applauded her team’s fighting spirit in Sunday’s Massy Women’s Caribbean Premier League T20 final, but rued their squandered opportunities, which inevitably cost them the 2023 title at Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba.
Batting first, the Bajan franchise was steered to a formidable total of 169/7, led by skipper Hayley Matthews, who smashed 82.
In reply, the women Warriors came within sight of target, but fell just nine runs short of their maiden women’s CPLT20 crown, despite a valiant stance by Shemaine Campbelle, who finished on an unbeaten 47.
Looking back on the final, Taylor said there were key moments in the game when they should have been at their best, but weren’t.
Asked if her bowlers may have been a bit too expensive, the Jamaican skipper agreed.
“I feel like probably 20 runs (were given away), maybe in boundaries, and yes, our fielding probably didn’t help. We thought probably we gave away just too many boundaries.
“Even when you look at (our) first two games against Barbados, there wasn’t much of a difference. When we spoke, we talked about how they actually got away from us, and it’s the same thing, bowling too many boundary balls and not executing our plans.”
The Warriors had a good start from the opening Kiwi combination of Suzie Bates (36) and Sophie Devine (22), Campbelle and a cameo knock of 28 from 17 balls from Natasha McLean, who put Barbados to the test in final overs.
Although she lauded their contributions, the skipper wanted longer partnerships.
Given what Devine has been doing for the team, she said, "It’s actually a big loss. Even when we lost her early we still had hope that we could chase the runs down. Partnerships would have been the thing for us.
“Shemaine batted brilliantly and we just needed another partnership right there. If Natasha had stayed there we probably had a chance of winning it.”
Reflecting on the second Massy Women’s CPLT20, Taylor said there were many positives coming out of the second edition. She also suggested the possibility of increasing the player pool to welcome another franchise for next year’s tourney.
“I thought the competition’s been really good. The overseas players were brilliant for all the teams. If (there is) anything I would probably change, (it) is maybe having another team, but that depends on the pool of players that we have, and you don’t necessarily have four teams and one team is weak.
“You want to have that match up and competitiveness. If it doesn’t happen, the three teams, for now, has been really good. The growth has been good. It’s nice to have some of the young and emerging players coming through, and integrating with overseas players has been good.”
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