ICC Women's World Cup: Windies Defeat Thailand By 7 Wickets

West Indies got their World Cup campaign off to a winning start as they inflicted a seven wicket win over Thailand in their opening group fixture at Perth

West Indies displayed a clinical performance to defeat Thailand by seven wickets in the ongoing Women's T20 World Cup on Saturday at the WACA. Chasing 79, West Indies openers Hayley Matthews and Lee-Ann Kirby put on 19 runs for the first wicket, but Thailand got the first breakthrough of Kirby (3) through some brilliance on the field. Soon after, Hayley Matthews (16) and, were also sent back to the pavilion, reducing Windies to 27/3. Skipper Stafanie Taylor and Shemaine Campbelle then got together at the crease and ensured that Windies does not suffer from any more hiccups. The duo took the side over the line by seven wickets and with 20 balls to spare. Earlier, a spirited bowling performance helped Windies restrict Thailand to 78/9 in the allotted twenty overs. Opting to bat first on their World Cup debut, Thailand lost their opening two wickets with just 11 runs on the board. Nattaya Boochatham (2) and Nattakan Chantam (9) both failed to leave a mark. West Indies kept on taking wickets at regular intervals and Thailand struggled to create any sort of momentum. Nannapat Koncharoenkai top-scored for Thailand as she played a knock of 33 runs, but her dismissal in the 18th over derailed the innings and in the end. Thailand only managed 78 runs in the allotted twenty overs. Stafanie Taylor picked up three wickets for West Indies. Brief Scores: West Indies 80/3 (Stafanie Taylor 26*, Shemaine Campbelle 25*, Soraya Lateh 1-22) defeat Thailand 78/9 (Nannapat Koncharoenkai 33, Naruemol Chaiwai 13, Stafanie Taylor 3-13) by seven wickets.