West Indies Women made an impressive start to their three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe Women with a comfortable eight-wicket victory at Takashinga Sports Club in Harare. A disciplined bowling display, led by Karishma Ramharack, was followed by confident batting from Realeanna Grimmond and Jahzara Claxton, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead in the series.
Claxton delivered with both bat and ball to earn the Player of the Match award after helping restrict Zimbabwe before finishing the chase unbeaten.
Ramharack and Fletcher Restrict Zimbabwe
After winning the toss, West Indies chose to bowl first and quickly took control of the contest.
Zimbabwe struggled to build momentum throughout their innings, reaching only 40/3 after the first 10 overs as West Indies’ bowlers maintained tight lines and regularly struck at key moments.
Off-spinner Karishma Ramharack starred with the ball, claiming 3 wickets for 17 runs, while experienced leg-spinner Afy Fletcher picked up 2/18 and enjoyed an outstanding all-round outing in the field by taking four catches – the most by a West Indies player in a Women’s T20I innings.
Jahzara Claxton also impressed with 2/16, helping ensure Zimbabwe never established a competitive scoring rate.
Biza Topscores for Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe found batting difficult against the disciplined West Indies attack.
Beloved Biza finished as the home side’s highest scorer with 21 from 24 deliveries, while opener Modester Mupachikwa contributed 20 off 33 balls.
Captain Josephine Nkomo shared Zimbabwe’s best partnership of the innings with Biza, adding 24 runs for the fifth wicket, but the hosts struggled to rotate the strike consistently.
The innings featured more than 60 dot balls, while Zimbabwe managed only seven boundaries, eventually closing on 97/9 from their 20 overs.
Claxton and Grimmond Make Chase Comfortable
West Indies wasted little time chasing the modest target.
The visitors raced to 12 without loss after just two deliveries, aided by six wides from Zimbabwe seamer Kudzai Chigora and an early maximum from Eboni Brathwaite.
Brathwaite played an aggressive cameo of 23 from 14 balls, sharing a brisk 38-run opening partnership with Claxton before departing.
Realeanna Grimmond then continued the momentum with an entertaining 34 off 25 deliveries, striking five fours and a six to put Zimbabwe completely on the back foot.
After Grimmond fell with the scores level, Stafanie Taylor struck the winning run from the only ball she faced, while Claxton remained unbeaten on 31, guiding West Indies to 98/2 in 12.5 overs with 43 balls to spare.
Claxton Caps Fine All-Round Performance
Already among the wickets earlier in the evening, Claxton completed an outstanding individual performance by anchoring the successful chase.
Her unbeaten innings, combined with two wickets, earned her the Player of the Match award as West Indies took early control of the series.
With both the bowling attack and top order performing strongly, the visitors will head into the second T20I full of confidence as they look to secure the series.
