CWI Media
West Indies Women captain, Stafanie Taylor, has warned against complacency from her team as they begin their quest to qualify for the 2022 ICC Women’s World Cup to be held in New Zealand from March to April in 2022.
The Windies Women open their campaign tomorrow at 2:30am local time against Ireland in Harare and Taylor has warned against underestimating their opponents.
“That’s one thing you don’t want to do. Everyone’s here to win the competition. We’re not here to take any team for granted. We’re here to play hard cricket and come out on top,” said Taylor.
With the West Indies Women having completed a 3-0 series sweep against Pakistan prior to their arrival in Harare, Taylor says she hopes the team can carry their momentum into the tournament.
“I think we had a good series against Pakistan so I would love to see us continue where we left off from there. We’ve been playing some good cricket and getting some really good scores from our top players and even the lesser batting line up," she said.
Taylor concedes, however, that even with the team entering the qualifiers in good form there are still areas that need improvement.
“In our batting, it’s running the first one hard, turning twos into threes. In bowling, bowlers need to get early wickets and eliminate the wides,” she said.
The captain also provided some insight into the confidence of the team coming off some good results before the tournament.
“The morale is pretty good, especially seeing batters getting runs. I think that’s something that we’ve been working on because we’ve been relying on the bowling department for quite some time now so it’s really nice that the batters have been scoring those runs,” she said.
The West Indies other group games will be Saturday, November 27th against Sri Lanka and Monday, November 29th against the Netherlands with both matches beginning at 2:30am local time.
The Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers feature nine teams divided into two groups.
West Indies Women are in group A alongside Ireland, Sri Lanka and The Netherlands while group B comprises Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Zimbabwe and the USA.
Papua New Guinea were also supposed to be in the field but had to withdraw after a Covid-19 outbreak within the team before boarding their flight to Zimbabwe.
The top three teams from each group will advance to the Super 6 phase and the top three teams at the end of that phase will qualify for the 2022 World Cup alongside Australia, India, New Zealand, South Africa and England.
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West Indies Women suffer crushing 10-wicket defeat to South Africa in T20 World Cup opener
The West Indies Women’s team endured a disappointing start to their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup campaign, falling to South Africa Women by 10 wickets in their Group B opener in Dubai on Friday. South Africa's captain, Laura Woolvaardt, won the toss and opted to bowl first, a decision that quickly paid off as the West Indies struggled from the outset.
The West Indies were reeling at 32-3 by the seventh over, with early dismissals of captain Hayley Matthews (10), Qiana Joseph (4), and Deandra Dottin (13). Former captain Stafanie Taylor tried to steady the innings with an unbeaten 44 off 41 balls, but her efforts were not enough to build any significant partnerships as wickets continued to fall around her. Contributions from Shemaine Campbell (17) and Zaida James (15) offered little resistance, and the team managed to post a modest total of 118-6 from their 20 overs.
South Africa’s bowlers were in fine form, with Nonkululeko Mlaba leading the attack, taking 4-29 with her slow left-arm spin. Marizanne Kapp provided strong support, claiming 2-14 as the West Indies struggled to accelerate.
In response, South Africa made light work of the chase, reaching 119-0 in 17.5 overs without losing a wicket. Woolvaardt anchored the innings with an unbeaten 59 off 55 balls, including seven fours. Her opening partner, Tazmin Brits, was equally effective, scoring 57 not out from 52 deliveries, striking six boundaries as they capitalized on a lacklustre West Indies bowling attack.
The defeat serves as a stark wake-up call for the West Indies, who will need to regroup quickly if they are to advance in the tournament. Their next match in Group B will be crucial as they seek to bounce back from this disappointing start.
Final scores in the match were West Indies Women 118-6 (20 overs) and South Africa Women 119-0 (17.5 overs), with South Africa securing a dominant victory in their opening game.
Gillespie defends under-fire Pakistan captain Masood ahead of England Test series
Jason Gillespie insists Shan Masood has a "clear plan" as Pakistan's Test captain.
Pakistan's red-ball skipper has faced scrutiny after overseeing five straight defeats as captain, starting by being whitewashed 3-0 by Australia last December.
That was followed by a shock 2-0 series defeat to Bangladesh last month, which marked Gillespie's first as Pakistan Test coach.
Next up is a three-match series with England, where Joe Root (12,402) is 71 away from surpassing Alastair Cook (12,472) as the all-time leading run scorer for England in men’s Tests, beginning in Multan on Monday.
Speaking on BBC World Service's Stumped podcast, Gillespie said of Masood: "Shan has got a very clear plan on how the Test side should play and we are completely aligned on that," the 49-year-old said.
"There are things people don't see and I've been really impressed by his communication with the players and how he's gone about doing his job."
Gillespie added that he believes part of the issue is improving the fitness of the team.
He added: "We can't afford to have players in international cricket who are not fit or strong enough to negotiate the rigours of the game.
"What I've learned from the Bangladesh series is that we've got some wonderful players, but we need to be more consistent. We've got the skills but we need to keep fine-tuning them.
"There's also been plenty of talks around fitness and we're making sure that it's a key component for us going forward."
Deitz wants Windies Women to capitalize on strong positions ahead of World Cup opener- “We have to be dangerous for longer”
Head Coach of the West Indies Women’s team Shane Deitz is looking for his squad to show more killer instinct ahead of their opening game of the 2024 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup against South Africa on Friday.
Deitz spoke to CWI Media after the team’s second Warm-up game, a 35-run defeat at the hands of defending World T20 champions, Australia.
During that game, the team had Australia on the ropes with the ball and then with the bat.
At one point during the Australian innings, the West Indies had them reeling at 44-4 and 59-5 before they eventually made 144-8.
With the bat, the regional outfit were 68-1 in the 10th over before eventually being bowled out for 109.
“We had them on the ropes but we didn’t deliver the killer knockout punch. If we’re going to win this World Cup, that’s what we’ve got to do,” Deitz said.
“We have to have the perfect game. 20 overs with the bat. 20 overs with the ball. When we get in those situations and get on top, we’ve got to nail them,” he added.
Even with the losses to India and Australia in preparation for the World Cup, having the defending champions in those positions means that there is a lot of potential within this group.
To consistently defeat the best teams in the world, you have to maintain that high standard of play for as long as possible throughout the game.
Deitz echoed similar sentiments.
“The results aren’t the be all end all in the practice games. What we want is to play good cricket and we are doing that, just not for long enough. Once we get that longer, we have a chance to scare a few teams at this World Cup,” he said.
“Everyone’s in good spirits and we’ve shown that we’re a dangerous team. We just have to be dangerous for longer. The girls are backing themselves and everyone’s looking forward to the start of this World Cup,” he added.
As for the approach he wants his team to have in this tournament, Deitz wants to take the game to the opposition.
“If we’re going to win this, we’ve got to play attacking cricket. We’ve got to back ourselves and take on the opposition. That’s the mindset we’ve got to continue with,” he said.
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