WI girls beat Sri Lanka

West Indies opener Stafanie Taylor hitting out during her 53. (Kenmore Bynoe)

Wed, April 25, 2012 - 5:38 PM

WEST INDIES’ women cricketers comfortably beat Sri Lanka by 88 runs in the first One-Day International at Kensington Oval on Wednesday.

Propelled by half-centuries from opener Stafanie Taylor , Shanel Daley and captain Merissa Aguilleira , the Caribbean girls scored 228 for six in their 50 overs and restricted the visitors to 140 in 42.3 overs with the help of a five-wicket haul from off-spinner Anisa Mohammed.

Choosing to bat first on winning the toss, West Indies owed their foundation to Daley’s 63 off 97 balls and Taylor’s 53 off 82 balls, the pair adding 78 for the second wicket.

Aguilleira dominated the second half of the innings by cracking 62 off 63 balls before she was dismissed off the final ball of the innings.

Sri Lanka lost two early wickets before there was a partial recovery in a fourth wicket stand of 67 between captain Dilani Manodara (37) and Shashikala Siriwardena (34).

Mohammed removed both and proceeded to run through the lower order to finish with five for 34 in 9.3 overs.

The two teams will meet in the second match of the series on Friday at the Windward Club ground in Lucas Street, St Phililp.

Please see full story in Thursday’s DAILY NATION.