Panama midfi elder Jose Rodriguez (7) moves the ball past Grenada midfi elder Shavon John-Brown (11) during the
fi rst half of a CONCACAF Gold Cup Group D soccer match early Wednesday, July 21, 2021, in Orlando, Fla. Associated
Caribbean L 30 ife, JULY 23-29, 2021
By Azad Ali
West Indies hard-hitting batsman
Chris Gayle became the first batsman
in the world to cross 14,000 runs during
the third Twenty20 series against
Australia at the Darren Sammy
National Cricket Ground in St. Lucia
recently.
He became the first Twenty20 batsman
to achieve that milestone.
He said after the match “it is a
great achievement. To score 14,000
Twenty20 runs is fantastic. I may to
try and give myself a target to look
for 15,000 now. It is very pleasing
to be the first person to get 14,000
Twenty20 runs especially on a winning
note as well.”
By Azad Ali
West Indies Women Captain, Stafanie
Taylor has reclaimed the top
batting and all-rounders’ spots in the
latest International Cricket Council
women player rankings announced
last week by the governing body.
The 36-year-old jumped four spots
to displace India stroker-maker, Mithali
Raj from the top of the batting
charts and rose two places in the allrounders
charts to knock Australian
Ellyse Perry off her spot.
It is the first time in seven years
Taylor has found herself as the topranked
batsman, while returning to
the top all-rounders’ rankings for the
first-time in four years.
Taylor has made moves in the bowling
rankings, leaping three spots to 16,
with Australian Jess Jonassen holding
on to the top spot.
The Jamaican has been in top form
in the recent five-match One-Day-
International series against Pakistan
Women, in which the host won four
matches.
She struck an unbeaten 105 in the
opening game, powering her side to
a five-wicket victory after they easily
chased down 206 for victory at the
Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua.
Taylor said she was relieved to finally
score her sixth One-Day-International
century, following an eight-year
drought.
She also grabbed three wickets
which earned her Player of the Match
award.
She did not bat in the second ODI,
with Anisa Mohammed leading the
squad.
Chris Gayle
Continued from Page 29
Gayle’s knock came after a barren
run of form for the left-hander who has
been batting at number three and not
an opener.
He had a disappointing three-match
Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka in
Antigua and also the first two matches
against Australia.
Gayle speaking to his teammates
following the match said: “This unity,
trust me, we are going to be unbeatable.
We need to carry this forward and
grow from strength to strength.”
“We have a great unit in the dressing
room, which is such an important
thing. You can see it in the middle out
there when we actually go across the
rope and the guys play fantastic cricket,”
he said.
Gayle was elated to contribute but
said it is not only about him.
He said during his dismal run of form
he attempted to change his approach to
batting by scoring singles and twos,
which did not pan out for him.
The Twenty20 World Cup bowls off in
the United Arab Emirates in October.
innings before Hayden Walsh .Jr and
Fabian Allen combined getting the
wickets of Finch for 34 and Allen was
up to the task, running from 30 yards
from wide long-on to take a spectacular
one-handed catch to send back
Finch back to the pavilion.
Chris Gayle then bowled three
overs for nine runs to put Australia
on the ropes to stem the boundaries
as West Indies sealed the win,
restricting the visitors to 185 for
nine.
Andre Russell and Sheldon Cottrell
each grabbed three wickets.
Stand in captain for the series,
Nicholas Pooran, described the victory
as a wonderful achievement saying
the win will do a lot for the confidence
of the team as it continues its
build-up to the Twenty20 World Cup.
stop,” it added.
In the 27th minute mark, Panama
pushed its score to 2-0, thanks to a
similarly impressive display of touches
that would eventually end up with
midfield Jose Rodriguez, CONCACAF
said.
“He would slot the ball to the bottom
corner to get on the scoresheet,”
it said.
CONCACAF said Panama continued
to be aggressive, constantly pushing
for its third goal in the second half.
Midfielder Edgar Barcenas would
find Rodriguez, who took on the Grenadian
defense to score his goal of the
night, with a precise left-footed finish
in the 64th minute, CONCACAF said.
“Although Grenada won’t be happy
with its final match of the 2021 Gold
Cup, they did manage to get a consolation
goal in the 76th minute,” it said,
with Grenada’s Romar Frank taking
advantage of “a big error from Panama
captain Adolfo Machado to cut the
score to a two-goal deficit.”
In the final minutes, CONCACAF
said Grenada was looking to score its
second goal of the night — creating
several late opportunities.
“However, Panama also asserted
itself as it ensured it would wrap up
the match by fighting to retain possession,”
CONCACAF said.
Press / John Raoux
Continued from Page 29
West Indies’ Evin Lewis in action.
Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs, File
Continued from Page 29
PANAMA OUT OF CONCACAF GAMES
Windies beat
Aussies
Stafanie Taylor returns to top spot Gayle scores
batting record