TAUNTON, England, CMC – Twenty20 World Cup champions West Indies Women will look to turn the page on their ordinary form of the last three weeks when they meet Australia Women in their opening match of the ICC Women’s World Cup here today.
The contest, which bowls off at 10:30 am (5:30 am Eastern Caribbean time) will be a rematch of the T20 World Cup final India last year when the Caribbean side dominated in style and a repeat of the 2013 World Cup final in which the Aussies got the upper hand.
West Indies will start as underdogs especially based on their form in recent weeks. They lost both official warm-up games last week to Pakistan and South Africa respectively and prior to that, went down to England, Southern Vipers and India in other practice games.
However, captain Stafanie Taylor told a media conference here that her side had put the hiccups of recent weeks behind them and would be starting afresh.
“Warm up games are gone. We’re not focussing on what’s gone,” the Jamaican said.
“Tomorrow everyone’s on a level playing field and we’re just trying to focus on what we need to do in that game.”
Australia, the reigning champions, are understandably tournament favourites and reiterated that status with convincing victories in their two warm-up matches.
They boast the world-rated likes of Meg Lanning, Ellyse Perry and Alex Blackwell but Taylor said West Indies would be focussed on executing their game and not worrying about the Aussies.
“We are not focussing too much on the Australians. We’re trying to focus on our game and what we need to do as a team to win,” she explained.
“We know that Australia are going to come hard at us and as I said, we just need to focus on our game and what we do best. We can’t focus too much on the Aussies, we just have to remember all the good things we did against them in the last World Cup and go out there and play our cricket.”
Taylor, who averages 44 from 98 ODIs, will lead her side’s batting, with help coming from fellow veteran Deandra Dottin, teenaged opener Hayley Matthews and former skipper Merissa Aguilleira.
However, it has been the Windies’ batting which has let them down on tour so far, highlighted in their dismal 63 all out in their second official warm-up against South Africa in Oakham last Thursday.
Their bowling has been more consistent with new-ball seamers Shamilia Connell and Shakera Selman along with off-spinners Taylor, Matthews and Anisa Mohammed, looking in decent touch.
Despite the recent results, Taylor said her side had been working assiduously behind the scenes to strengthen their overall game in preparation for the start of the tournament.
“We’re focussing on all areas, trying to get everything right – that’s what you have to do to beat a team, especially a team like Australia,” she pointed out. “We know they’re a strong team so we know we have to get our team right.” She added: “Everyone has their game that they’ve been working on in the nets. Today is a day where people just need to top up and get ready for tomorrow’s game.”
SQUADS:
WEST INDIES – Stafanie Taylor (captain), Merissa Aguilleria, Reniece Boyce, Shamilia Connell, Shanel Daley, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Qiana Joseph, Kyshona Knight, Hayley Matthews, Anisa Mohammed, Chedean Nation, Akeira Peters, Shakera Selman and Felicia Walters
AUSTRALIA – Meg Lanning (captain), Sarah Aley, Kristen Beams, Alex Blackwell, Nicole Bolton, Ashleigh Gardner, Rachael Haynes, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Belinda Vakarewa, Elyse Villani and Amanda-Jade Wellington.
