Shemaine Campbelle stars as WI down holders NZ

Spearheaded by Shemaine Campbelle's career-best effort, West Indies edged past defending champions New Zealand in their Women's T20 World Cup clash on Saturday.

Campbelle's 90 not out set the tone for their chase of 163, the second-highest ever in Women's T20 World Cups, and was also the highest individual score batting second in the tournament's history.

An emotional Campbelle was in tears when the penultimate ball gave WI their winning run off a leg bye. It gave the West Indies crucial first points and proved to be a big setback for New Zealand, who ended up ruing a spate of missed chances.

The day began with Isabella Gaze dominating the Powerplay even as Georgia Plimmer was sent back as the first of Aaliyah Alleyne's four victims. Amelia Kerr, playing her 100th T20I, was also out cheaply: by the end of eight overs, they were down to 56/3.

Sophie Devine and Brooke Halliday arrested the slide, taking 25 runs across the 11th and 12th overs. Three quiet overs followed: at the end of 15, NZ stood at 110/4. That came via Maddy Green's 35 off 22, taking NZ past 160.

West Indies needed a strong start but it was anything but: Qiana Joseph fell in the second over, run out after a mix-up with Hayley Matthews. That brought in Campbelle, who stayed put until the end of the chase, negating the absence of Stafanie Taylor and Chinelle Henry.

The Powerplay wasn't impactful: they managed 35/1. Matthews got a reprieve at fine leg as early as the third over. In the 10th over, Campbelle was adjudged lbw but replays showed impact outside off, reversing a decision that would prove crucial.

At the halfway mark, they ambled to 69/1. New Zealand's fielding slip-ups helped their cause: both batters were dropped in the 11th over.

Matthews fell just short of her fifty, caught by Jess Kerr whose spell of 2-17 threatened to derail the chase. The turning point came in the 14th over when Campbelle and Dottin smashed 14 off Kerr, following with a 10-run over off Rosemary Mair. Campbelle got to her maiden T20I fifty with a six. With five overs to go, WI were 119/2.

New Zealand stayed in the game with a Maddy Green stunner sending back Dottin. However, another Amelia Kerr over turned it around: the 18th over saw 13 runs, while Mair gave 10 in the penultimate one, leaving them needing just four in the final over. Campbelle and Jahzara Claxton ticked that off without any further drama.

Brief Scores: New Zealand Women 162/6 in 20 overs (Brooke Halliday 40, Isabella Gaze 39; Aaliyah Alleyne 4-27, Deandra Dottin 1-22) lost to West Indies Women 163/3 in 19.5 overs (Shemaine Campbelle 90*, Hayley Matthews 48; Jess Kerr 2-17) by 7 wickets.