Galle, Sri Lanka, CMC- West Indies Women are hoping for an improved showing when they start their campaign for the ICC Women’s World T20 tournament today.
The Windies girls are facing New Zealand in Group B at the Galle International Cricket Stadium, following a 19 run loss to Australia in a warm-up game on Sunday.
West Indies were semi-finalists when the tournament was played in the Caribbean two years ago and the New Zealanders were losing finalists to Australia.
“We are well prepared… very well prepared. We have been together as a team for a while now and the girls looked very athletic, enthusiastic and high on confidence in the build-up” declared Head Coach Sherwin Campbell.
“In this team we have some naturally talented athletes and I expect us to do well in all three departments – with the bat, with the ball and in the field”.
The West Indies preparation for the tournament included a Twenty/20 series against England which the Caribbean side lost 4-1.
For most of that series the windies were without Stefanie Taylor, the leading allrounder in the game who is ranked in the Top 5 batters and allrounders in the ICC Women’s T20 tables.
“We are two years more experienced this time around and I believe we have it in us to go all the way this time” said the former West Indies vice captain.
“That would be a rich reward for the hard work they have put in”.
Apart from Taylor, the ICC Women’s ODI Player of the Year, the Windies also have Deandra Dottin, the most explosive female cricketer in history.
Dottin has the record for the fastest half-century and century in ICC Women’s World T20. The bowling is led by Anisa Mohammed, the experienced off-spinner, who is the leading wicket-taker in Women’s T20 history with 62 wickets in 43 matches at an average of just 12.04 runs per wickets.
“I must say inconsistency got the better of us in England, and I’m happy it happened before we got here to Sri Lanka. It was an eye opener,” said Captain Merissa Aguilleira who top scored with 22 during the warm-up game against Australia on Sunday.
“We have a lot of talent in the batting, but having said that we haven’t really put enough runs on the board to give ourselves an opportunity to win. It is important to set a solid foundation.”
First ball today is 1:30 pm (4 am Eastern Caribbean Time/3 am Jamaica Time).
