Windies girls simply the best!

Dhaka, Bangladesh – West Indies Women put in another superb allround performance to beat Pakistan Women by 120 runs and win the International Cricket Council’s Women’s Cricket World Cup 2013 qualification tournament on Saturday.

The Windies, who qualified for the World Cup earlier this week, demonstrated their strength in all departments and ended the event unbeaten with big wins in all six matches.

By virtue of winning the tournament, West Indies jumped up the ICC Women’s One-Day International Team Rankings. They now sit in fifth position in the world while Pakistan moved from eighth to sixth place.

Speaking after the match captain Merissa Aguilleira was delighted. “It is truly fantastic to walk away with the tournament trophy, to be undefeated at that, and to also know we have improved on the global rankings. It was a great event for us. I’m extremely happy with the team effort. We were well prepared, we were hungry for success, we were consistent throughout and it paid off,” the wicket-keeper said.

“We have qualified for the World Cup and we will build towards that tournament. We believe we have the players who are quite capable of winning the World Cup two years down the road in India. We played well here in Bangladesh and we will look to carry the same form into other tournaments.”

Batting first, West Indies made 250-5 off their 50 overs on a good pitch at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. Deandra Dottin hit a blazing 95 runs off 84 balls while off-break bowler Anisa Mohammed destroyed the Pakistan batting with seven wickets for 14 runs.

It was Dottin’s highest ODI score and changed the course of the match. The 20-year-old power-hitter from Barbados smashed seven sixes — the most in an innings for West Indies women in an ODI. She was unstoppable and her brilliance led to the Windies adding 110 runs in the last 11 overs.

“I am really happy the way things worked out today. First, I’m extremely happy we won the tournament. All the girls worked hard and it is good we have the trophy to take back home,” said Dottin.

“I have been in good form throughout the tournament so I knew I could get a big score today. I looked to pace my innings and when I got balls to hit I made sure I put them away. The balls were in my zone so I just stepped out and cleared the boundary.”

Earlier in the innings opener Juliana Nero made a classy 63 off 98 balls with nine fours and a six. She is now the second woman after Stafanie Taylor to make 1,000 runs in ODIs for West Indies.

When Pakistan replied Mohammed combined with Taylor to respect them to 120 all out. Mohammed ripped through the batting to record the best bowling figures by a West Indian woman.

“It’s been great to play here in the sub-continent where the wickets are good for spin. I had hoped to take five wickets in the final but to walk away with seven wickets, I’m thrilled and to have helped the side to winning the final too,” the experienced Trinidadian said.

“I enjoy bowling against Pakistan. When we played against them at home a few months ago I took 14 wickets in the series and I also got wickets against them earlier in this tournament, so I was confident from the start today.”

ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year, Taylor was named Player-of-the-Tournament. The 20-year-old top order batter was the highest run-scorer in the tournament with 325 runs at an average of 81.25 per innings. She also claimed 10 wickets at an average of 9.30 per wicket with her clever off-spin.