Lanning fifty anchors Australia Women in six-wicket win

Australia Women carried forward their dominant performance on the Caribbean tour from the ODIs to the T20I format, with a six-wicket win over West Indies Women in the first T20I in Bridgetown, Barbados.

Australia's chase of 107 was controlled well by captain Meg Lanning's unbeaten run-a-ball 54, after the side had lost the openers in a span of three overs. Lanning found support from Ellyse Perry, who shared in a third-wicket stand of 57, even as the Australia captain made the most of a reprieve she received to bring up her 13th T20I fifty. Lanning took her overall T20I run tally to 2547 becoming the first Australian and the fourth batsman in women's cricket to score more than 2500 runs in the format. The knock was also Lanning's third consecutive fifty-plus score on the tour

West Indies' efforts with the bat followed much the same template as the ODI series, with a batting collapse hampering their chances in the game. By the end of the Powerplay, they had lost half their side with 38 on the board, and it was left to captain Stafanie Taylor to shepherd them past 100 with the help of the lower order. Megan Schutt, who had taken a hat-trick in the final match of the ODI series, was once again effective, dismissing Britney Cooper and Reniece Boyce in the Powerplay before taking her third wicket in the death overs. Perry, Delissa Kimmince and Jess Jonassen took a wicket each, with Jonassen conceding only 11 runs in four overs.

The match saw a delay in the opening over, after West Indies had opted to bat. According to cricket.com.au, after Schutt had dismissed Cooper off the fourth ball of the first over, the on-field umpires signaled for assistance, as they felt the markers for the inner fielding circle were wrongly placed. The game was delayed until the inner boundary circle was measured and the placement of the markers was corrected to 25 yards.