Mohammed eager for fans' support in women’s 6ixty, CPL

TRINBAGO Knight Riders (TKR) women’s vice-captain Anisa Mohammed is asking the public of St Kitts and Nevis, and the rest of the Caribbean, to support the matches in the SKYEXCH 6ixty women’s tournament and the Massy Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) T20 tournament.

The inaugural 6ixty, a T10 tournament, will be played from Wednesday-Sunday at Warner Park in Basseterre, St Kitts featuring the three women’s teams and the six men’s teams.

The first day of the 6ixty will feature three women’s matches. TKR will battle Barbados Royals at 10 am and in the second match TKR will tackle Guyana Amazon Warriors at 12.30 pm.

Royals and Amazon Warriors will play in the final match of the opening day at 3 pm.

The WCPL, which will also be played for the first time, will be contested at Warner Park from August 31-September 4.

The tenth edition of the Hero CPL men’s tournament will be held from August 31-September 30 with matches in St Kitts, Trinidad, St Lucia and Guyana.

“We are really happy for all the support you have given us over the past years,” Mohammed said.

“It is here, so please come out and support. For those who can’t come out we look forward to seeing you looking on at our games. We always look forward to getting your messages. Those are the things that motivate us, so don’t let it stop and we look forward to all the support.”

Mohammed likes TKR’s chances. “I think we have a pretty balanced team. Looking at our squad we have power hitters, we have good bowlers in our team and we have a lot of players with a lot of experience under their belt so we are really hoping that will be enough to help us get over the line in this tournament.”

TKR will be captained by Deandra Dottin and also includes Lee Ann Kirby, Kycia Knight, Kyshona Knight and Natasha McLean.

South African Sune Luus and Hayley Jensen of New Zealand will add depth to TKR with their international experience.

Mohammed said the overseas players on the TKR roster will help develop the inexperienced West Indies players.

“I think it is really exciting. For some of our younger players who have not played on the West Indies team to be able to share the same dressing room as these international players is a big deal for them. I am really hoping they can learn something from these players and they would be able to improve on their game and some day make it onto the West Indies team and be able to represent at the international level.”

Mohammed said the bowlers in the 6ixty will have to be at their best to limit the batters.

“As bowlers we are going to have to think a lot. You will be seeing a lot of variations, so I am really looking forward to that and hopefully, we will be good enough to outfox the batters.”

The players in the 6ixty will have to adjust to the rules.

“I think we have quite a number of interesting rules in this tournament and we are really looking forward to that,” Mohammed said.

• Each batting team has six wickets – at the fall of the sixth wicket they are all out.
• The batting team has two power play overs and they will be allowed a third power play if they hit two sixes in the first 12 balls of the innings. The extra power play over can be taken at any time between overs three and nine.
• There will be 30 balls bowled from one end of the wicket, before the action switches to the other end for the final 30 balls. The 30 balls will be delivered as five separate overs with no bowler being able to bowl more than two overs for the innings.
• The teams will have to keep an eye on the clock as if teams do not bowl their overs within the allotted time a member of their team is removed from the field for the final six balls.
• Fans will be involved in the action as they will decide when a “mystery-free hit” takes place.

WOMEN’S SQUADS 

Trinbago Knight Riders: Deandra Dottin (captain), Anisa Mohammed (vice-captain), Hayley Jensen (New Zealand), Sune Luus (South Africa), Geetika Kodali (USA), Lee Ann Kirby, Kyshona Knight, Kycia Knight, Natasha McLean, Sheneta Grimmond, Caniesha Isaac, Jannillea Glasgow, Steffie Soogrim, Shawnisha Hector.

Barbados Royals: Hayley Matthews (captain), Shakera Selman (vice-captain), Fatima Sana (Pakistan), Chloe Tryon (South Africa), Snighda Paul (USA), Reneice Boyce, Mandy Rangru, Brittney Cooper, Aaliyah Alleyne, Shanika Bruce, Afy Fletcher, Qiana Joseph, Japhina Joseph, Chinelle Henry.

Guyana Amazon Warriors: Stafanie Taylor (captain), Shermaine Campbelle (vice-captain), Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka), Ayabonga Khaka (South Africa), Isani Vaghela (USA), Rashada Williams, Rachel Vincent, Kaysia Schultz, Chedean Nation, Cherry-Ann Fraser, Shamilia Connell, Karishma Ramharack, Shabika Gajnabi, Zaida James.

WEDNESDAY'S FIXTURES: TKR Women vs Barbados Royals Women, 10 am; TKR Women vs Guyana Amazon Warriors Women, 12.30 pm; Barbados Royals Women vs Guyana Amazon Warriors Women, 3 pm.