By NAN Sports Editor

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. May 31, 2018: Here are the top stories making Caribbean sports news for the week ending, May 31, 2019:

West Indies Score Impressive World Cup Opener Win

The West Indies cricket team this morning scored an impressive win over Pakistan in their World Cup opening match at Trent.

Star batsman, Jamaican-born Chris Gayle blazed his team to an easy victory with a knock of 50 off 33-balls as the Windies responded with 108 for 3 off 13.4 overs after Pakistan collapsed for 1010 all-out.

Chris-Gayle-led-The-West-Indies-To-Victory
The indomitable Chris Gayle helped lead the Windies to victory.

Nichloas Pooran added 34 while Oshane Thomas was the pick of the bowlers for the Windies bagging a stellar 4 for 21 while Skipper Jason Holder picked up 3 for 42.

It was Pakistan’s second-lowest World Cup total as the Windies steam-rolled over the side. Thomas was named Man of the Match.

In commenting on the win, Skipper Holder said: “Chris started us off tremendously. He eases the pressure in a chase like this. He imposed himself and kept them at bay.”

MATCH DETAILS

Toss: Toss won by West Indies

Umpires: Marais Erasmus (SA) and Chris Gaffaney (NZ)

TV umpire: S Ravi (IND)

Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZ)

PLAYING XI

West Indies: Chris Gayle, Shai Hope (W), Darren Bravo, Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder (C), Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas

Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Sarfaraz Ahmed (C) (W), Mohammad Hafeez, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hassan Ali, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir

The Windies remaining World Cup matches are as follows

June 6 v Australia, Nottingham, 7.30pm AEST

June 10 v South Africa, Southampton, 7.30pm Australian EST

June 14 v England, Southampton, 7.30pm AEST

June 17 v Bangladesh, Taunton, 7.30pm AEST

June 22 v New Zealand, Manchester, 10.30pm AEST

June 27 v India, Manchester, 7.30pm AEST

July 1 v Sri Lanka, Durham, 7.30pm

 July 4 v Afghanistan, Leeds, 7.30pm AEST

Reggae Girlz Face Brazil In First Test Of Women’s World Cup

The wait is almost up for the start of the 2019 Women’s World Cup and Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz will have their first challenge of the tourney as they take on Brazil on June 9th at Stade des Alpes, Grenoble.

They will then have to face Italy at Stade Auguste-Delaune, Reims on June 14th and Australia on June 18th. It will be a tough challenge for the team which is making its maiden appearance at the Cup.

Especially in their last warm-up match before the tourney, they lost to Scotland 2-3. However, the rising star for the team is Konya Plummer, 21, who guided her side to an impressive third-place finish at the 2018 CONCACAF Women’s Championship.

Haitian Roots Player Part Of US U-20 Soccer Squad

Skilled Haitian-roots, Miami-born soccer player,Konrad de la Fuente, is part of the FIFA U-20 World Cup squad looking to win for the USA this year in Poland. He was part of the squad that powered past Nigeria 2-0 Monday night at the Bielsko-Biala Stadium in Biesko-Biala, Poland.

Known simply as Konrad, he is a starting winger for Barcelona’s U19 team and is making headlines in Europe. The 17-year-old is just the second U.S. player invited to enroll at La Masia in the academy’s history.