West Indies proved itself to be the best Twenty20 side at the ICC Women’s Cricket Challenge when it defeated Sri Lanka in the final of the Twenty20 section of the tournament today (Saturday).

The West Indians made it to the finals of the Twenty20 by virtue of beating the Netherlands by 99 runs earlier in the day. Merissa Aguilleira had won the toss and chosen to bat in that match, posting a mammoth total of 191-4 in its allotted 20 overs with Stacy-Ann King top scoring with 81 off 47 balls and thus earning herself another Player of the Match award.

Another poor performance with the bat saw The Netherlands’ innings include five run-outs, which inevitably cost the team the game. Carlijn de Groot was the highest run scorer with 22 of 31 balls, while the side were all out for a mere 92 runs.

The ladies from the Caribbean moved on to the finals against Sri Lanka, which had won both its matches on day one of the T20I’s to qualify for the final, and it was with ease that Aguilleira’s side defeated Shashikala Siriwardene’s team by eight wickets and with 56 balls to spare.

Having won the toss, Sri Lanka elected to bat on what appeared to be batter-friendly wicket but the West Indies bowling attack came charging in with Tremayne Smartt bowling Sajeewani Galagedera out for a duck in the fifth ball of the match.

Polgamola Kumarihami, who tried to hold the innings together, managed a 26-run partnership with Suvini de Alwis and later a 21-run partnership with Sandamali Dolawatta before she was dismissed in the eighth over by the talented King.

Sri Lanka went on to lose wicket after wicket, the West Indian bowlers proving too good for them, finishing with a paltry 83-9 at the end of its 20 overs.

West Indies made quick work of the Sri Lankan bowling attack, with Juliana Nero (28 not out) and Deandra Dottin, who made a quick-fire 39 off 22 balls, helping their side to an eight-wicket victory and top spot in the tournament.

West Indies Sherwin Campbell was delighted with the win: “This is our favourite format of the game, the team seem to take to it very easily and I am happy they could produce a win today.”

Sri Lanka’s coach Harsha de Silva was disappointed at the extent of his team’s loss: “We were to blame (for the loss), those five run-outs were needless but I am happy we have come this far.”

In the third place play-off, South Africa secured victory after it beat Pakistan by six wickets with six balls remaining.

Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat, managing just 93-8 in its 20 overs. Angelique Taai was the pick of the bowlers for the side, taking match figures of 3-9.

South Africa’s reply saw a solid batting performance from the top order, with captain Cri-Zelda Brits (38 off 47 balls) and Trisha Chetty (21 off 20 balls) claiming the most runs to guide the side to success over Sana Mir’s Pakistan.

Finally, in the fifth place play-off Ireland claimed its first win of the T20Is’ when it beat the Netherlands by 42 runs.

Ireland came out positive and when Ciara Metcalfe won the toss and chose to bat first, Nikki Symmons did well to score 86 off 48 balls, steering her side to an imposing target of 179-5 at the end of its allotted 20 overs.

Netherlands made a promising start when Miranda Veringmeier contributed to two 50-run partnerships with Carlijn de Groot and captain, Helmien Ramboldo.

Their dismissals and the slow run-rate of 6.85 an over, when the required run-rate to win was 8.95, meant that the team was never going to make the required target and finished its innings with 137-4.

For some of the teams the ICC Women’s Cricket Challenge was its first taste at playing against five different teams outside of the ICC Women’s World Cup and the ICC Women’s World Twenty20, and the coaches involved have been grateful for the opportunity to develop their players in the event.

Ireland coach Stephen Moreton said: “This event is hugely important - I don’t think the women’s game can grow if it doesn’t happen regularly.

“We struggled with development because it’s only now and again that the girls experience quality opposition in quality conditions and if there’s any intention to grow the women’s game, this kind of event needs to happen regularly.”

South Africa coach Yashnin Ebrahim added that he believed tournaments like the ICC Women’s Cricket Challenge were key to the development of women’s cricket in the countries ranked outside of the top four Full Members.

“Having come in from coaching a men’s domestic side and coming here to Potchefstroom in my first major event as coach of the South African women’s team, I see the importance and need for teams rated from five to 10 to play regular cricket.

“In order to close the gap between the top four, and teams from five to 10, there needs to be more tours, tournaments and games like the ones we’ve played over the last ten days,” said Ebrahim.