A round-up of the action from the ICC Women’s Cricket Challenge where West Indies, South Africa and Pakistan all recorded victories

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Oct-2010
ScorecardStafanie Taylor’s century set up a crushing win•International Cricket CouncilFormer captain Stafanie Taylor blasted West Indies to a 148-run win over Netherlands on the opening day of the the ICC Women’s Cricket Challenge in Potchefstroom.Opening the innings after Netherlands captain Helmien Rambaldo won the toss and put West Indies in, Taylor thrashed 147 from 141 balls to launch West Indies to an imposing 283. In contrast the Netherlands chase never got going as they were restricted to 135 for 8 from 50 overs.Taylor received able support from Stacy-Ann King who made 22 in an 80-run stand for the fourth wicket but it was the following 113-run stand with Deandra Dottin that carried West Indies out of sight.Dottin shot to prominence when she became the first woman in history to score a Twenty20 international hundred – which she made off 38 balls – against South Africa in the World Twenty20 earlier this year and she was in typically aggressive form in this game, reaching 59 from 58 balls. The standout innings, however, came from Taylor who smashed 15 fours and a six before falling in the penultimate over.The total was always going to be beyond Netherlands but their approach seemed more concerned with survival than at giving themselves a chance of victory. Esther Lanser top-scored with 39 at the top of the order, but her innings, which came off 92 balls set the tone.Rambaldo’s 27 was the only other score of note as the rest of the line up struggled to get to grips with the West Indies attack. Dottin made her good day even better by picking up 2 for 15 from her seven overs of medium pace as Netherlands crept to 135 for 8 to finish well short.
ScorecardSouth Africa thrashed their Sri Lankan counterparts by 153 runs – rolling them out for 75 after battling to 228 on the North-West University No2 Ground.The spin pair of Dane van Niekerk and Sunette Loubser were the chief destroyers, taking four wickets each to help inspire a collapse from 50 for 2 to 75 all out in 10.5 overs. Just three players reached double-figures, Chamari Polgampola top-scoring with 25 at the top of the order. The 4 for 13 that 17-year-old legspinner van Niekerk finished with was her best figures and she now has 15 wickets from seven ODIs.What was barely a contest in Sri Lanka’s chase was more of a tussle in the South Africa innings. Captain Cri-zelda Brits anchored the innings with 78 from 108 balls. At 131 for 3 it looked as though a big total would be built but Polgampola struck back with three wickets to help reduce South Africa to 189 for 7 by the time Brits fell.Yet Loubser and Shabnim Ismail rallied to take the score to 228. It meant that Brits’ knock, which featured six fours, was not wasted and allowed enough for the bowlers to surge to victory.
ScorecardPakistan gave their country’s cricket fans some much-needed cheer by thrashing Ireland in their opening match of the ICC Women’s Cricket Challenge in Potchefstroom.Opting to field they made light work of the Ireland line-up, bundling them out for 116 in 31.5 overs. Only three players made reached double- figures as Asmavia Iqbal took an impressive 3 for 17 from nine overs. She was ably backed up by Kanwal Naz who took 3 for 18 with her left-arm spin.Jill Whelan top-scored for Ireland, striking three boundaries in her 18 before being run-out. All around her the Ireland line-up came and went in a procession leaving a simple chase for Pakistan.Whelan followed up her relative success with the bat by taking the first wicket in the second over of Pakistan’s chase but that only brought Nain Abidi to the crease. She laid a sound platform alongside Javeria Khan in a 50-run second-wicket stand and despite two more wickets falling, Abidi held firm to reach an unbeaten fifty and seal the victory.