West Indies women will aim to level the T20I series against England on Wednesday when both sides meet in the second of the five-match series in Derby, England. The regional ladies will be hoping to shake off their 47-run loss in the first match which ultimately saw only Barbadian batter Deandra Dottin get into double figures with the bat. Shakera Selman stood out with the ball but England’s women had little trouble in seeing off the regional side.
Following the heavy defeat on Monday, Dottin said, “It's been a long time since we've played international cricket but we've been here for two and a half weeks and we've been preparing and I think we ticked our boxes, it was just a matter of execution and we didn't do that today with the bat or the ball but I think the girls were really happy to get out there.”
The 29-year-old Dottin stood out, however, the only batsman to reach double figures with an attractive 69 off 59 deliveries, to post her 10th half-century in T20s and second against England.
In pursuit of 164 at the County Ground here in the opening Twenty20 International of the five-match series, West Indies were always behind the required run rate following a slow start, and declined to 116 for six off their 20 overs.
“It was not one of the best [performances]. We didn’t adapt well to the pitch,” captain Stafanie Taylor lamented afterwards.
Meanwhile, Shakera Selman earned the second-best figures of her career as the experienced seam bowler secured 3-26 from her four overs under lights. “I think I am actually peaking now at this later stage… I’m really happy with the returns and the hard work is finally paying off,” she said on the eve of the second match.
As the Windies women head into today’s T20I, which starts at 1pm ECT, the hard-hitting right-handed Dottin said they must do better in the simpler parts of the game. She said, “The lack of rotation of the strike and the lack of partnerships and I think if we had capitalized on those dot balls and turned them into ones we would have been better off.”
In the first match, England women posted 163 for eight from their 20 overs before limiting the Windies to 116 for six in their 20 overs.
TEAMS
West Indies women squad: Stafanie Taylor (c), Deandra Dottin, Shemaine Campbelle, Afy Fletcher, Hayley Matthews, Shamilia Connell, Britney Cooper, Chedean Nation, Natasha McLean, Chinelle Henry, Aaliyah Alleyne, LeeAnn Kirby, Sheneta Grimmond, Karishma Ramharack, Shabika Gajnabi, Cherry-Ann Fraser, Kaysia Schultz.
England women squad: Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Katie George, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Natalie Sciver, Anya Shrubsole, Mady Villiers, Fran Wilson, Lauren Winfield, Danni Wyatt.