Cooper half-century leads T&T to title

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent (CMC):

West Indies player Britney Cooper stroked an unbeaten half-century yesterday to propel Trinidad and Tobago to a three-wicket win over St Vincent and the Grenadines, and to the capture of the WICB Women's 50-Overs League for the second year running.

Chasing SVG's 156 for six off their 50 overs, T&T reached 157 for seven with 17 balls to spare at the Arnos Vale playing field to register their success.

Cooper, a 20-year-old right-hander, finished on 56 not out to see T&T to victory, while her West Indies teammate Stacey-Ann King hit an equally important 43 from 60 balls.

With T&T struggling at 42 for three, Cooper and King joined forces to add a match-winning 75 for the fourth wicket and put their side on the brink of victory. Cooper survived a life at 41 to hammer five fours and a six off 72 balls, while King hit three fours in her 60-ball innings.

Earlier, another Windies player, Juliana Nero, carved out a superb unbeaten 85 to steer the hosts to their eventual total after they were sent in.

They were, however, pegged back by off-spinner Anisa Mohammed, who finished withtwo for 10 from her allotted 10 overs.

"We feel really, really great! We played well throughout the entire tournament and we are very happy the way things ended," said Mohammed, who is also captain of the T&T side.

"We came here to win and keep our title from last year and that is exactly what we did. We achieved all the goals we set out to achieve. What is also good is that we did not lose a single match.

She added: "We have a lot to be proud of and I want to thank all the girls for the hard work and also want to thank everyone who supported us."