[UPDATED] 'World Boss' Deandra Dottin hailed after win over Amazon Warriors

LEGEND, hero, fantastic and "World Boss" were some of the words used to describe Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) women's skipper Deandra Dottin after her jaw-dropping performance on August 25, which helped TKR stay alive in the 2024 Massy Women's Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) tournament.

Playing Guyana Amazon Warriors in a must-win encounter at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy (BLCA) in Tarouba, Dottin thumped two sixes off Shabnim Ismail in a vicious onslaught as TKR grabbed a 14-run Super Over win after both teams made 128 in the tense 20-over affair.

The Warriors won the toss and sent TKR to bat, with Dottin top-scoring with 53 off 38 balls as TKR got to 128 for eight. TKR's total seemed slightly under par, but an excellent display of death bowling by the hosts saw the Warriors limited to 128 for five, with Erin Burns (61 off 50 balls) hitting her second straight 50 against the 2022 champions.

The Warriors needed 11 runs off the last over from Shikha Pandey, but their valiant efforts just fell short as Burns was run out off the last ball of the innings as she desperately tried to scramble the winning run.

With their 2024 WCPL fate on the line, Dottin and TKR were again sent to have first strike as Warriors skipper Lauren Winfield-Hill won the toss for the Super Over.

At the post-match presentation, Winfield-Hill said Dottin "is a bit of a Super Over queen," and the aggressive 33-year-old Barbadian quickly had the Warriors skipper regretting her decision.

Dottin skilfully hit the first ball of the Super Over beyond the fine-leg boundary for six, before going down on her knees to swat a slower ball from Ismail over mid-wicket for a massive six off the third ball.

"As far as I know, I don't think I've ever lost a Super Over," Dottin said after the match. "It's just a matter of knowing where you want to hit the ball.

"Ismail is a very good bowler. I've faced her in a Super Over before, so I kind of know how she thinks. That was the advantage I had."

After scoring 12 runs off the first three balls of the Super Over, Dottin scrambled a single after punching a ball to Karishma Ramharack at cover. TKR got the perfect end to the super over as India's Jemimah Rodrigues carved Ismail's last ball over the cover region as the hosts finished with an imposing 19 runs.

The Warriors managed just five runs in their Super Over
bowled by Australian left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen, with both Burns and Chloe Tyron being dismissed.

Jonassen conceded just 15 runs in her four-over spell as the Warriors tried to reel in the 129-run target, including a fabulous penultimate over which went for just three runs. In the Super Over, the Warriors had no answer for Jonassen, as Tyron was run out off the first ball before Burns held out to Dottin off the third ball as she tried to clear the long-on boundary.

Earlier, the Warriors appeared to be in control of the chase when Burns and West Indies wicket-keeper/batsman Shemaine Campbelle (25) stitched together a 77-run partnership for the third wicket. However, when 16-year-old spinner Samara Ramnath removed Campbelle at the end of the 16th over, the hosts turned the screws and eventually got the win – their first over the Warriors since the WCPL started in 2022.

The victory was TKR's first of the season after defeats to defending champions Barbados Royals and the Warriors on August 22 and 23 respectively, and Dottin was elated.

"I'm very happy I could contribute to the team. Being a leader and being at the top, I take on that role to bat through the innings so we could end up with a decent total on the board."

Even when Burns and Campbelle seemed to be batting TKR out of the three-team tournament, Dottin kept the faith.

"Guyana were all over the game. Erin Burns was in and playing really well so it was just a matter of getting a wicket to settle it back a bit," the TKR skipper said. "For us to pull it back to a Super Over, I was very pleased."

TKR had solid allround performances in the match, with Sri Lanka's Harshitha Samarawickrama (18) sharing in an impressive 66-run opening partnership with Dottin, and the pair of Pandey (25) and Kycia Knight (16) putting together a timely 40-run partnership for the sixth wicket after the hosts slipped to 77 for five.

With the ball, Jonassen was excellent, with young spinners Ramnath (one for 26) and Zaida James (one for 24) holding their own through the middle overs.

Dottin rued her team's dropped catches in their second match, and though Jonassen dropped Campbelle on 17 in the 14th over, Samarawickrama brilliantly sent Campbelle back to the pavilion when she took a stunning one-handed catch at mid-off. It was a catch which proved to shift the game's momentum.

Dottin was impressed by the poise shown by Ramnath, the TT and West Indies Under-19 skipper.

"Samara is a very strong individual and she's a very good player as well," Dottin said. "She has actually matured a lot from last year and she has developed well in the snap of a finger...it seems to me like she likes to play under pressure as well so that's really good."

The tight bowling at the death paved the way for Dottin to take the game away from the Warriors in the Super Over.

"We did a lot right in the game. We probably owned like 70 per cent of the game. It just slipped at the end there," Winfield-Hill said.

"Fair play to Deandra, she's a bit of a Super Over queen."

Veteran TT off-spinner Anisa Mohammed, who was omitted from the TKR XI for the crucial encounter, lauded her team's showing.

"(It was a) big win tonight...Deandra Dottin showed why she's the world boss," Mohammed said, via a social media post by TKR. "Jess held her nerve in the last over for us. She bowled a really good over and I thought all the bowlers and batters played their part. Let's keep that winning way going."

With the win, TKR went level on two points with the Warriors, who faced the table-toppers Royals (four points) from 7 pm on August 26 at the BLCA. TKR will conclude the round-robin phase of the tourney with a clash against the Royals from 8 pm at the BLCA on August 27. A win for TKR over the Royals will help their chance of qualifying for the final.

Summarised scores:

TRINBAGO KNIGHT RIDERS: 128/8 from 20 overs (Deandra Dottin 53, Shikha Pandey 25; Chloe Tyron 2/12, Karishma Ramharack 2/19) and 19/0 (D Dottin 13 not out) vs GUYANA AMAZON WARRIORS: 128/5 from 20 overs (Erin Burns 61, Shemaine Campbelle 25; Jannillea Glasgow 1/18) and 5/2. TKR won by 14 runs in Super Over.

This story was originally published with the title "Superb Dottin saves TKR women in Super Over" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

TRINBAGO Knight Riders (TKR) women's captain Deandra Dottin kept her team alive in the 2024 Massy Women's Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) on August 25, as she put on a brilliant display of hitting to get her team a pivotal 14-run win in a tense Super Over against Guyana Amazon Warriors at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba.

With TKR needing a win to stay alive in the three-team tournament, Dottin top-scored with 53 off 38 balls as TKR posted a modest 128 for eight after being sent in by the Warriors.

With top-order batter Erin Burns (61 off 50 balls) leading from the front for Guyana with a second consecutive fifty against TKR, the Warriors seemed to have the game in the bag. However, a spirited late fight by the TKR bowlers saw the Warriors being restricted to 128 for five, with Burns being run out off the last ball by seamer Shikha Pandey as she attempted to scramble the winning run.

Dottin and TKR were sent to have first strike for the Super Over, and the aggressive right-hander put her team in the driver's seat with two thumping sixes over the leg-side off seamer Shabnim Ismail in the first three balls. A boundary off the final ball saw the hosts with a daunting score of 19 from their six balls.

The Warriors seemed shell-shocked by the Dottin onslaught, and they managed just five runs in their Super Over bowled by Australian spinner Jess Jonassen, with both Burns and Chloe Tyron being dismissed.

With the win, TKR went level on two points with the Warriors, who will face defending champs and table-toppers Barbados Royals (four points) from 7 pm on August 26 at the BLCA.

TKR will conclude the round-robin phase of the tourney with a clash against the Royals from 8 pm at the BLCA on August 27.

Thanks to Dottin, the 2022 champions still have a fighting chance.