Photo Credit: Cricket West Indies
The West Indies Women will open their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup against England Women at Boland Park in Paarl on Saturday afternoon. Captain Hayley Matthews is hopeful that veteran player Stafanie Taylor will be assessed as fit to play before the match, as Taylor’s experience and great skills would be a big for the Maroon Warriors batting line against England and throughout the tournament.
The match starts at 3pm (9am Eastern Caribbean/8am Jamaica).
Speaking ahead of the match Matthews said:
“It’s going to be really good for us that we can get out there and have a strong group of players to pick from. We’ve had a couple of injuries over the last couple of weeks, but we know that we can go there, hopefully with a much stronger side and put on a good performance. The prospect of Staf, hopefully, coming back in that first game tomorrow is going to be something really good to see.”
Also returning from injury is all-rounder Chinelle Henry who missed the recent Tri-Nations series and was injured during the international home series against England when they visited the Caribbean last December and Shakera Selman who also missed most of the Tri-Nations series. Henry’s all-round ability as a pinch-hitter is critical to the batting, as well as her opening bowling spell.
Matthews said on the returning players “
“We definitely had a lot to learn from that series (against England in December) but at the same time we’ve got the opportunity now for our players who have previously done well against England to be back in the set-up which I think is good for us to go out there and play a really good game.”
The inclusion of three Rising Stars players from the recently concluded ICC Women’s U19 World Cup, is a welcomed injection of youth and fresh legs into the squad.
“We felt it was the right time to bring some young players in, not just to be here but to really get the experience. We might see some of them feature in this tournament but it’s a great learning experience for them.”
The West Indies Women are heading into the first match on a winning note, after they defeated Sri Lanka Women in their final warmup match last Wednesday.
West Indies and England are drawn in Group 2 alongside India, Pakistan and Ireland. The eighth edition of the marquee event started on Friday with hosts South Africa taking on Sri Lanka. Newlands, Cape Town; Boland Park, Paarl and St. George’s Park, Gqeberha are the host venues for the tournament with both semi-finals and final being played in Cape Town on 26 February.
West Indies Match Schedule
11 February: v England, Boland Park, Paarl, 3pm (9am Eastern Caribbean/8am Jamaica)
15 February: v India, Newlands, Cape Town, 3pm (9am Eastern Caribbean/8am Jamaica)
17 February: v Ireland, Newlands, Cape Town,7pm (1pm Eastern Caribbean/12 noon Jamaica)
19 February: v Pakistan, Boland Park, Paarl, 3pm (9am Eastern Caribbean/8am Jamaica)
