Women's T20 WC: Spirited Pakistan defeat Windies by eight wickets

Canberra [Australia], Feb 26 (ANI): In their opening game of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup, spirited Pakistan defeated West Indies by eight wickets at Manuka Oval here on Wednesday.
Chasing a modest target of 125, Pakistani openers, Javeria Khan and Muneeba Ali, laid down a solid foundation of 58 runs.
Stafanie Taylor got rid of the dangerous-looking Javeria (35) in the eighth over. Skipper Bismah Maroof joined Ali in the middle and the duo had a brief stand of 19 runs for the second wicket. The latter played a 25-run knock before being picked up by Afy Fletcher in the 12th over.
Nida Dar and Maroof stitched together a winning stand and chased down the target with 10 balls remaining. At the end, Dar was unbeaten on 18 while Maroof remained 38 not out.
Earlier, Windies skipper won the toss and elected to bat first. The team had a miserable start as they lost Hayley Matthews on the first ball of the match for a duck.
Lee-Ann Kirby played a brief knock of 16 off 11 balls before being scalped by Diana Baig in the fifth over.
Skipper Stafanie Taylor and Shemaine Campbelle put up a stand of 63-run for the fourth wicket after Deandra Dottin (1) was claimed by Nida Dar in the seventh over.
Campbelle scored 43 runs including two sixes and as many fours off 36 balls. She was caught in front of the wickets by Anam Amin.
Chinelle Henry (4) failed to leave her mark on the scoreboard and was dismissed by Aiman Anwer in the 18th over. Skipper Taylor too departed in the penultimate over of the innings after scoring 43 runs.
Afy Fletcher scored six runs while Chedean Nation and Shamilia Connell remained unbeaten on six and one runs respectively.
For Pakistan, Diana Baig bagged two wickets and remained the most economical bowler for her side.
Brief scores: West Indies 124/7 (Stafanie Taylor (43), Shemaine Campbelle (43), Diana Baig 2-19) lost to Pakistan 127/2 (Bismah Maroof 38*, Stafanie Taylor 1-20) by eight wickets. (ANI)