Cricket: White Ferns lose to Windies again

Sophie Devine.
Sophie Devine.
Despite a blistering knock of 89 from 93 balls from Sophie Devine, the White Ferns fell to another one-day international loss to the West Indies yesterday.

The West Indies won the second clash at St Kitts' Warner Park by 65 runs.

The home side was again led by Deandra Dottin (82 not out) with the bat, who lifted her side to a competitive total of 246 for five.

In response, the White Ferns struggled to form meaningful partnerships and lacked the momentum for much of their innings, eventually being dismissed for 181 after 45.3 overs.

Having opted to bat first, the West Indies' steady approach paid dividends.

The top order all made starts, opener Kycia Knight (48) taking the early initiative.

Her departure in the 20th over did not slow down the home side, as Dottin and Stafanie Taylor (50) got on top of the New Zealand bowlers and took the West Indies well past the 200 mark.

Captain Suzie Bates took two wickets for the White Ferns, but Georgia Guy, in just her second ODI, was the pick with the ball, finishing with figures of one for 27 from 10 overs.

The White Ferns knew they would need to build partnerships to chase down the competitive score, but wickets fell at inopportune times throughout the innings.

Bates made a handy 38, but departed in the 14th over to leave the White Ferns 55 for four.

While wickets continued to fall intermittently, Devine remained resolute at the crease and picked up runs at a steady rate.

When the eighth wicket fell and the situation began to look dire, the 25-year-old began to look for the boundary.

Four sixes later, and just 11 runs away from her ton, the White Ferns were still in with a chance.

Unfortunately, Devine's entertaining knock came to an end at this point and the home side wrapped up the match in the 46th over.

The third of four ODIs will be played on Thursday morning.

Northern Districts is on the cusp of qualifying for the Champions League twenty20 tournament after a second easy win in qualifying.

ND has beaten the Lahore Lions by 72 runs in Raipur, thanks largely to a dominant bowling display from two Black Caps.

The New Zealand side first posted an impressive 170 from six from its 20 overs courtesy of half-centuries from Daniel Flynn and BJ Watling.

But the real damage was done with the ball. Opening bowlers Trent Boult and Tim Southee put on a swing-bowling master class in humid conditions to reduce the Lahore Lions to 19 for five in the sixth over to end the run chase before it really began.

Southee took three wickets from his four overs while Boult finished with figures of two for 12.

Northern is in the box seat to qualify for the tournament proper but would guarantee a spot with victory over the Mumbai Indians tomorrow morning.

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