We are being outplayed – Brooks

Jamaica senior women’s cricket coach Shane Brooks believes his team is being outplayed by their opponents in the ongoing Cricket West Indies T20 Blaze tournament in St Kitts.

After starting the tournament with two straight wins, the Jamaicans have now suffered back-to-back defeats to Barbados and Guyana and are on the brink of relinquishing the title they won last year.

The Jamaicans suffered an eight-wicket loss to Guyana yesterday as they first posted 109 for six in their allotted 20 overs after which Guyana eased to 110 for two in 18 overs.

Captain Stafanie Taylor once again led from the front by top scoring with 48 from 49 balls with five fours and a six. Natasha McLean was the next best scorer with 27 from 21 balls while opener Keneshia Ferron made 20 from 37 balls against three wickets for 18 runs from West Indies seamer Cherry-Ann Fraser.

The Jamaicans started brightly with the ball by picking up two quick wickets, thanks to pacer Celina Whyte. However, the experienced Shemaine Campbelle and Shakibi Gajnabi took the contest away from the Jamaican side with a 100-run third-wicket partnership.

Campbelle was the aggressor and scored an unbeaten 50 from 49 balls with five fours while Gajnabi weighed in with 37 not out from 46 balls with three fours.

Whyte finished with two wickets for 11 runs from her four overs for the Jamaicans who remain on eight points with one match to play.

For coach Brooks, injuries have been hampering the team’s performance, having to play some 10 games in 20 days.

“We are being outplayed as we are not able to field our best team. Seven out of the 14 players are carrying injuries, some more serious than others, and so we are not able to play at our best,” said Brooks.

Brooks made it clear that the team has not been getting enough runs on the board and the bowlers have not been up to par in defending smaller totals, nevertheless, the team will be fighting for every point heading to the end of the tournament.

“Every game we play, we play to win, and we have one more game on Saturday and we are looking to end on a high,” said the Jamaica coach.