Player of the match Stafanie Taylor scored a masterclass unbeaten hundred and also shone with the ball to lead the West Indies to a convincing five-wicket victory over Pakistan Women in the first match of the CG Insurance ODI series at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua on Wednesday.

The West Indies Women’s captain led from the front with an unbeaten 105 as the West Indies scored 209-5 in 47.5 overs chasing Pakistan Women’s 205-9 from their allocation of 50 overs.

Taylor’s unbeaten 100 came from just 116 balls during which she hit 11 fours and two sixes in what was her sixth ODI century and her first since the 2014/2015 season.

“You know I’ve been dreaming of this day, to finally pass that five hundreds and finally make it six, I’m really happy,” she said afterwards.

“I said to myself that I know I’m always in this position (with wickets down) and I like batting in 50-over games, so it’s a matter of getting myself in and once I know I get myself in and somebody else on the other end batting, we should get the runs.”

The Jamaican, who led the West Indies Women to a 3-0 sweep of Pakistan in the just-concluded T20 series, won the toss and elected to bowl first on a pitch that suited the home side’s spinners, as the captain, in tandem with Anisa Mohammed spun a web around the Pakistan batters.

Between them, the spin duo took five wickets that ensured that Pakistan never really got going. With the exception of Nida Dar and Ayesha Zafar, who scored 55 and 46, respectively, as well as Muneeba Ali, who got 36, no other batter really troubled the West Indies.

Ali and Zafar posted an opening stand of 70 but once the partnership was broken with the run out of Ali, Pakistan struggled to get runs on the board. Dar did her best to break the shackles with her 55 coming from 71 balls and included four fours and a six but wickets fell with regularity around her.

Taylor finished with figures of 3-29 while Mohammed returned 2-31.  There was also a wicket each for Shakera Selman and Shamilla Connell.

Chasing, the relatively modest target, the West Indies got into trouble early as Hayley Matthews and Kyshona Knight both got out inside the first 12 overs.

However, Kycia Knight and Stafanie Taylor then steadied the innings, posting a 23-run partnership before Knight departed for patient 19 from 44 deliveries.

Things got worse when the normally destructive Deandra Dottin only had a brief stay during which she scored nine runs.

 It was left to Taylor to guide the team to victory, staging a partnership of 46 with Chedean Nation for the fifth wicket and then an unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 42 with Britney Cooper. Taylor and Cooper had come together with the score at 167-5 in the 43rd over.

Cooper was more than just a spectator at the other end as she played some breathtaking strokes over the off-side and was 17 not out off 21 balls with three fours.

However, it was Taylor, who deservedly scored the winning runs.

Needing one run to win, she flicked one off the legs to take her team to victory.

The second match in the series bowls off on Friday morning.