Deandra Dottin

The 18 members of the squad were divided into two teams captained by Stafanie Taylor and Deandra Dottin, respectively.

Taylor scored 71 from 52 balls. She smashed nine fours in her knock as the team racked up 131 for 6 from their 20 overs. Britney Cooper contributed a useful 24 to the score. Bowling for the opponents, Aaliyah Alleyne used her pace to good effect taking 3 for 35 while Shakera Selman finished with 2 for 15.

Needing 132 to win Dottin led her team from the front scoring a brisk 41 from 43 balls but the efforts of Sheneta Grimmond (2 for 16) and Shamilia Taylor (2 for 23), proved good enough for Taylor’s team to eke out a close victory.

Head coach Andre Coley was pleased with the performance of the women.

“We’ve been here for two weeks doing a combination of various skills sessions in the nets, strength and conditioning and game-planning but today was our first time to get as close to a game scenario with this practice match,” he said.

“We split the teams as evenly as possible and some very promising performances came out of that. Both teams were able to bat the full 20-over innings and the players spent time at the crease building partnerships. So, that was good to see and we are happy with how things went. Now it’s just about fine-tuning and building momentum leading into the series next week.”

The first match of the five-match Vitality Series is set to bowl off on Monday, September 21 at the Incora County Ground.

Stafanie Taylor scored her 3000^th run on Wednesday but West Indies Women lost to England by 47 runs at Derby on Wednesday in the second of their five-match T20 Vitality Series.

They also lost the first match on Monday by a similar margin. However, this time the loss unfolded differently.

Chasing 152 for victory, the West Indies Women, with the score at 11, lost Hayley Matthews for three in the third over, caught off a leading edge by Heather Knight from a Katherine Brunt delivery.

However, the West Indies had a glimmer of hope when Deandra Dottin and Stafanie Taylor put together a partnership of 61 in nine overs to have the West Indies well-positioned at 71 for one in the 12^th over.

That was also when things began to unravel for the West Indies as their next seven wickets to 32 runs to close at 104 for eight.

It began with the last ball of the 12^th over when Dottin adjudged leg before wicket for 38 to Sarah Glenn’s quicker and fuller leg-break.

Six balls later, wicketkeeper Amy Jones, stumped Lee-Ann Kirby for one from a Mady Villiers delivery. 75 for three.

Six balls later, Jones was again in action, stumping Captain Stafanie Taylor - who had earlier scored her 3000^th run - for 28 from a Glen delivery wide of the off-stump. 79 for four.

Shermaine Campbelle was the next wicket to fall, for five, after swinging Anya Shrubsole’s delivery to deep square leg where Fran Wilson held onto a running catch. It was then 89 for five.

Six balls later, Chinelle Henry was out lbw to Villiers for seven. 89 for six.

By the time Sophie Ecclestone bowled Britney Cooper for a duck to leave the West Indies were 91 for seven, the Caribbean side had lost six wickets for 19 runs from 33 balls and still needing 61 from the last 16 balls.

Shortly thereafter, Aaliyah Alleyne was trapped lbw by Ecclestone for five at 96 for eight.

It was left to Selman, who remained unbeaten on 6 and Afy Fletcher 4, to get the West Indies past the 100-run mark as the innings came to a close.

Villiers was the pick of the England bowlers taking 2 for 10 from three overs. Ecclestone (2 for 19) and Glenn (2 for 24) did their part to dismantling the West Indies batting line-up.

Earlier, England had smashed 52 runs off their last five overs to wrest control of the match from the West Indies, who had up to then, kept England’s batters reined in.

Having had England at 96 for six in the 15^th over, Sarah Glen and Katherine Brunt attacked the bowling with great success. Together the pair added 46 runs before Selman bowled Brunt for 18 in the final over.

England had already taken full advantage of Shamilia Connell, whose last over, the 19^th, went for 19 runs. Glenn slapped her for four over deep backward point and then followed up with a shot over the covers for three.

Brunt followed suit the next ball that yielded two runs. She then smashed the flustered Connell out to the deep extra cover boundary for four.

By the time Glen was run out for 26 off the last ball of the innings, the damage had already been done with England once again getting beyond 150 runs that once again proved to be more than enough.

It was a welcome fightback from England, who after 15 overs didn’t look likely to score 150.

As they did in the first match on Monday, England had a good start scoring 34 from the first four overs before Selman had Tammy Beaumont caught by Chinelle Henry for 21.

At 44 for one Danni Wyatt was run out for 14.

By then Stafanie Taylor (2 for 12) and Selman (2 for 32) had begun to squeeze the life out of the England batting.

However, Jones who scored 25 from just 20 balls sparked England’s revival that ultimately proved to be too much for the West Indies.

Over in Australia, West Indies Women’s captain and star all-rounder, Stafanie Taylor, will also be featuring in franchise cricket as she lines up for Adelaide Strikers in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL). Another outstanding West Indies player, Hayley Matthews, will also be competing in the tournament and is once again playing for the Hobart Hurricanes.

Dottin, one of the most exciting all-rounders in the women’s game, announced her return to international cricket with an impressive series batting performance against England Women last month, where she scored two half-centuries in the five-match series. For this event she will be part of Team Trailblazers alongside Indian stalwarts Jhulan Goswami and Smriti Madhana; as well as Sophie Ecclestone of England.

Dottin expressed her eagerness to participate.

“It’s an exciting time for me to be selected for the Women’s IPL Challenge. Having played at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup earlier this year and more recently the series against England Women, I am now back into the groove of T20 cricket. I am looking forward to teaming up with some of the superstars in women’s cricket. I have good memories of playing in Dubai and I’m hoping that my recent return to form will continue throughout this tournament,” the 29-year-old said.

Selman, one of the top performing West Indian fast bowlers of all-time, will be back for her second stint in the Women’s IPL Challenge and will be playing for defending champions Supernovas. The team is led by Harmanpreet Kaur, and also includes Indian batter Jemimah Rodrigues and Chamari Atapattu of Sri Lanka. The other team to participate in the tournament is Team Velocity, led by Mithali Raj..

“I’m looking forward to my second stint in the Women’s IPL Challenge. Last year we just missed out on being in the final but this time I’m with the defending champions, the Supernovas and I hope I can contribute to their defense of the trophy,” said Selman.

“To line up with the likes of Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues and Chamari Atapattu, I know we’re going to bring the heat to this tournament. I’m looking forward to competing against Deandra and I know she’s not going to hold back her destructive batting and bowling.”

Meanwhile, CWI’s Director of Cricket Jimmy Adams believes the chance to play in the league is a tremendous opportunity for the Caribbean women.

CWI is extremely proud to have four of our international women’s players featuring across both the WBBL in Australia and the Women’s IPL Challenge in Dubai. The four players have all been rewarded for their performances at the highest level and we wish them all the success possible with their franchise teams,” he said.

“This opportunity for some of our players to play at the franchise level is welcomed on the back of limited opportunities this year due to the prevailing pandemic. Their involvement will no doubt also serve to inspire our young women in the Caribbean both inside and outside the game of cricket.”

The opening fixtures for Strikers and Hurricanes in WBBL|06 on October 25, will be against each other. This is the sixth edition of the tournament and Taylor and Matthews have participated every year since inception, with Taylor winning the title with Sydney Thunder in 2015-2016.

Taylor and Dottin were part of the Windies team that made history after claiming victory over Australia in the 2016 Women’s T20 World Cup.  In addition, Taylor is currently ranked second for the most runs scored, her 3062 bettered only by New Zealand’s Suzie Bates.  Dottin is ranked 5^th with 2565.  Taylor also features in the top ten in terms of wickets taken with 94 to date.

The West Indies women’s team captain has also earned a place on the ICC Women's ODI team of the year.  There she was joined by spinner Anisa Mohammed.  With 120 wickets taken to date, Mohammed is the format’s all-time leading wicket tacker.

Taylor had also been in contention for the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade but was beaten out by Australia’s Ellyse Perry.  Dottin was in the meantime in contention for the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Decade but was also beaten out by Perry.

ICC Women's T20I Team of the Decade

Alyssa Healy (Wicketkeeper)

Sophie Devine

Suzie Bates

Meg Lanning (Captain)

Harmanpreet Kaur

Stafanie Taylor

Deandra Dottin

Ellyse Perry

Anya Shrubsole

Megan Schutt

Poonam Yadav

The three-team tournament will take place in  St Kitts and Nevis and feature the Barbados Royals, Guyana Amazon Warriors, and Trinbago Knight Riders franchises.  Matthews will be captain of the Royals, Taylor the Guyana Amazon Warriors, and Dottin the Trinbago Knight Riders.

The players taking part in the competition were drafted from a pool put together by Cricket West Indies (CWI’s) selection committee out of which 33 were picked.  Each team will have the option of signing three overseas players which will bring the total squad size to 14.

That’s Deandra Dottin – the amazing allrounder who had surgery on right shoulder on June 3, 2019, and she hasn’t played since then. Her last appearance for West Indies was a year ago against Pakistan in Dubai for the last match of the ODI series.

She’s now ready to put on the maroon outfit and suit up for the ICC Women’s World T20 in Australia.

In an emotional interview with CWI Media, Dottin opened up about her journey, the uncertainty and anxiety as she worked her way through rehab, and the long, hard days and nights on the road to recovery, and now happily back onto the field.

West Indies bid to win their second global event will start on February 22 with a match against newcomers Thailand at the WACA Cricket Ground in Perth, Western Australia. She will return to the line-up when West Indies have an unofficial warm-up match against Pakistan on Friday (Thursday 8pm Eastern Caribbean Time/7pm Jamaica Time). The West Indies will also have two other matches on Saturday and next Tuesday.

This is Dottin’s second major break from the game. Back in 2016, she sustained a facial injury while playing for Brisbane Heat in the Women’s Big Bash also in Australia. For the period immediately followed she played on using a protective face mask.

As she prepares to embark on the tour of duty Down Under, it will be her seventh time at the ICC T20 World Cup. She announced herself on the world stage back in 2010 – with a blistering century against South Africa in St Kitts – the first woman to make a century in the format. Her greatest moment in West Indies colours came was on the field at Eden Gardens, Kolkata when she hit the winning run for West Indies to beat Australia and secure their first world title.

Overall, the 28-year-old has had a stellar career with 2,833 runs in 117 ODIs and another 2,368 in 110 T20Is. Now she’s back in search of more major performances to showcase her prowess.

“One goal is to get better than before to carry the team further. The target is of course to win the World Cup, that would mean so much to us and the people of the West Indies. We have so many fans who love us and delicate a lot of time towards supporting us, so we want to repay them with something special like we did in 2016.”

This will be the second such month-long camp in 2021 assembled under the guidance of Head Coach Courtney Walsh and his support team.

With the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifiers now rescheduled for December, Coach Walsh has devised a programme to maximize team preparations ahead of international cricket and the qualifiers later in the year.

“The purpose of this camp is to work on consistency and game awareness. The last camp was more observational, and we got a pretty good idea of where the ladies are at. There are 30 players coming in and a few of them are coming in nursing injuries, so the coaching staff and medical team are ready to work with all of them,” he said.

“We are going to use this camp to see as much of the players as possible. I am most excited to see the younger ones coming into the camp because we’re trying to build the pool of players available. So, I think it’ll be a great opportunity for these youngsters and the other new players to grasp the chance before them.”

Among the 30 players called up for the camp are eight (8) uncapped players including teenagers Zaida James from St. Lucia and Jannillea Glasgow from St. Vincent and the Grenadines. James is a left-arm medium-pacer while Glasgow is a right-arm medium pacer.

The other uncapped players are Rashada Williams, Caneisha Isaac, Shanika Bruce, Mandy Mangru and Rachel Vincent. Making a return to the camp is left-handed wicket-keeper/batter Kycia Knight.

CWI’s Lead Selector for Women’s cricket, Ann Browne-John was excited by the bigger pool of players for this camp.

 “It is very important to have the West Indies players back in a training camp as the coaches can continue to help them hone their skills as we prepare for our next series. Most of the top international teams have now restarted playing and it is critical for the WI team to prepare as we anticipate more international cricket coming up this summer,” she said while indicating that the camp will also focus on specific areas for development.

“In an effort to continue to unearth talent, eight players have been included who were not in the January camp. It serves as an opportunity for the coaches and selectors to look at some of the young up and coming players. Due to the pandemic, a regional tournament has not been held yet, so the players haven’t had the opportunity to impress the selectors in competitive matches.

“Heavy emphasis has been placed on batters including first-timers Rachel Vincent, an opening batter from Trinidad and Tobago, and Mandy Mangru, a young player from Guyana who has been impressive in the Under-19 tournament. The camp also includes two young teenage medium pacers, Zaida James and Jannillea Glasgow.”

Cricket West Indies (CWI) has been working closely with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Sport in Antigua & Barbuda to orchestrate logistics and agree on the safety protocols for the camp after the successful hosting of the first Women’s high-performance camp, the CG Insurance Super50 Cup and the West Indies Men’s International Home Series against Sri Lanka. All players and support staff were tested with negative COVID-19 results before their arrival in Antigua. The players and support staff will train and live in a bio-secure bubble for the duration of the camp.

Full squad: Aaliyah Alleyne, Reniece Boyce, Shanika Bruce, Shemaine Campbelle, Shamilia Connell, Britney Cooper, Deandra Dottin, Cherry Ann Fraser, Shabika Gajnabi, Jannillea Glasgow, Sheneta Grimmond, Shawnisha Hector, Chinelle Henry, Caneisha Isaac, Zaida James, Japhina Joseph, Qiana Joseph, Kycia Knight, Kyshona Knight, Mandy Mangru, Hayley Matthews, Anisa Mohammed, Chedean Nation, Karishma Ramharack, Kaysia Schultz, Shakera Selman, Steffi Soogrim, Stafanie Taylor, Rachel Vincent and Rashada Williams.

The team-management unit comprises Courtney Walsh - Head Coach; Sheena Gooding - Team Manager; Ryan Austin - Assistant Coach; Corey Collymore - Assistant Coach; Steve Liburd - Assistant Coach; Samantha Lynch - Assistant Coach; Robert Samuels - Assistant Coach; Neil Barry – Physiotherapist; Shayne Cooper - Strength & Conditioning

He also revealed that there are concerns about the fitness of opener Deandra Dottin, who suffered an injury in the match against India but remained hopeful she will be fit to face Australia.

It was a disappointed Walsh that faced the media on Monday when he conceded that the West Indies Women did not play well against India.

“We had one really bad game against India. I think India did pretty well against us and it’s something that we have to look at,” Walsh said, adding that India should not have scored as many as the 317-8 they put on the board before bowling the West Indies Women out for 162.

“It was not a 320 pitch I think; when I looked at it. I thought if we could restrict them to 270-250. We didn’t execute as well as we could have or should have.”

In reply, the West Indies Women got off to a good start reaching 100-0 in the 13^th over before everything went off the rails.

“It was a decent batting track, I thought, at the start of it and they did make full use of it. They’ve got a little bit more turn as the game went on. But that doesn’t make it any issue is we just executed poorly (sic)," Walsh said.

"The team knows that once you play well enough, we can beat any team, so we are hopeful we are going to play good cricket [on Tuesday]."

In their opening match against the hosts on March 4, the West Indies scored 259-9 thanks mainly to Hayley Matthews’ sublime 119. However, Dottin who opened the innings with her, made only 12 while Taylor scored 30.

In the second match against England on March 9, Dottin made 31 and Taylor 0 as the West Indies made 225-6. In that match that the West Indies dramatically won by seven runs, it was Shemaine Campbelle’s 66 and Chedean Nation’s unbeaten 49 that spurred the West Indies to their winning total.

However, despite the relative lack of runs from two of the big three, Head Coach Courtney Walsh said he was not overly concerned about the misfiring duo expressing confidence that they will eventually come good.

“In the two games we have played we have gotten competitive scores. Obviously,  you would want to see Stafanie firing and a Diandra firing but if they can fire at the right time for us while Hayley and the others are carrying the batting, then that is good, so I am not much perturbed their chance will come and when it comes you want them to step up,” Walsh said during a media session Wednesday.

“So it’s good when the like of Campbelle and Nation can step up to the plate and prove their worth. I would like for Kycia Knight to get a decent score as well to give her some confidence. She came into the competition with some runs from the previous tour and in the warm-up games so I think she just needs a decent score to give her some confidence and if we can get that then the batting would be showing a lot more solidarity, but I am not overly concerned.”

What is troubling the fast-bowling great turned coach is the number of catches the West Indies Women have put down in their two matches so far. As many as nine catches have been floored by the Caribbean women, some of which have proved costly.

Chinelle Henry dropped New Zealand middle-order batter Sophie Devine early in her innings and the player capitalized in the best possible way scoring 108. Henry eventually redeemed herself when she caught Devine off her own bowling to pave the way for the West Indies' narrow three-run win.

Walsh admitted Wednesday that the number of dropped catches is a worry.

“I am a little more concerned about the number of dropped catches because can’t keep dropping so many catches, it might come back to haunt us and hurt us,” he said.

“We have taken some fantastic ones as well so we don’t want to write that off but I am a little more concerned about the catches we have been putting down; if it’s the conditions or we’re just not backing ourselves but I think the effort they have shown in yesterday’s game, even though we still put down a couple, it shows that they are still committed to trying to take these catches and I am happy with that.

“It might be a little bit cold on the fingers but we have to do what we have to do when we get out to play.”

“

According to the former West Indies fast bowler turned coach, the upskilling of the women will be a continuation of what began when the women were called to camp in January this year.

Over the past few years, West Indies Women, world champions in 2016, has fallen down the pecking order in world cricket, struggling to make high scores when players like Deandra Dottin, Stafanie Taylor or Hayley Matthews fail to make big scores.

This was evident when the West Indies were swept 5-0 during a five T20 series against England in September 2020, when the side failed to achieve a score of 140 runs in any of the matches. England, meanwhile, scored over 140 runs in all but one of the matches.

Walsh believes that for that trend to end the team cannot rely on just two or three players.

 “Consistency can’t be just three players. If we are playing six or seven batters, not everybody is to come off all the time but we need to have four or five batters to be consistently producing. It can’t be the same three all the time,” said Walsh, who also indicated that there are other areas in which they have to improve as well.

“They also have to be aware of the game situation, so we are going to combine both as we are going to have the batters being a lot more consistent and not just depend on two or three players.”

Walsh revealed that there are signs that the camp in January had already begun to yield positive indicators of the change required.

“We started some drills in the last camp so it will be a continuation of that. We saw where we were getting a little more consistency. We saw where we able to bat 50 overs because in the first game that didn’t happen but in the last two games that happened,” Walsh said referring to three intra-squad practice matches played while in the camp that month.

“I also think it was the mindset as well so those areas we are going to be working on, with the mental skills we are going to stay there (at the crease) and we want them to be technically sound as well to be able to deliver.”

Taylor, who has 747 points, to lead the Australian pair of Alyssa Healy (736) and Ellyse Perry (734), is the only West Indian woman in the top 10 of the batting rankings.

The next best West Indies Women in the rankings are Deandra Dottin who is ranked 30^th despite being out for several months after undergoing surgery and rehabilitation and Hayley Matthews who is ranked 32^nd.

Taylor lies second in the allrounder rankings. Her 410 ranking points sees her trailing Perry’s 519 points. Matthews and Dottin are 17^th and 18^th, respectively. She is ranked 19^th among ODI bowlers.

Meantime, the West Indies captain is ranked eighth in the T20 batting rankings that are topped by New Zealand’s Suzie Bates. Dottin is ranked 15^th.

Afy Fletcher at 8, is the best ranked T20 bowler.

Matthews is the best West Indies allrounder as evidenced by her third place in the rankings. Taylor is ranked seventh.

From a team perspective, the West Indies are sixth in ODIs and fifth in T20 internationals.

Missing from the squad is spinner Anisa Mohammed who declined the invitation to join the squad while Kaysia Schultz is the only newcomer.

The touring party, who will all be tested for COVID-19 this week, is scheduled to fly to England on a private charter on August 30.

The West Indies Women’s squad will live, train and play in a “bio-secure” environment during the four weeks of the tour, as part of the comprehensive medical and operations plans to ensure player and staff safety which will restrict movement in and out of the venues.

Fourteen players of the touring party were part of the West Indies Women’s squad that participated at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia, earlier this year.

“It is with pleasure that we are able once again to have our West Indies Women's team involved at the International level. This tour to England gives our players a great opportunity,” said Lead Selector for Women’s and Girls Cricket, Ann Browne-John.

“The larger 18-member squad also gives an opportunity to have young developing players involved, like the two players from Guyana, left-arm bowler Kaysia Shultz and all-rounder Shabika Gajnabi. It also gives the opportunity to the young Trinidadian off-spinner Karishma Ramharack to get some international experience.”

CWI’s Director of Cricket Jimmy Adams said CWI was grateful for the opportunity provided by the England and Wales Cricket Board.

“CWI is pleased to be restarting its international women’s program with a tour to England, where the standard of women’s cricket has grown tremendously. We thank the ECB for their invitation and the added opportunity to travel with a larger squad affords us the chance to introduce a few younger players to this level of the game, and fast track their development,” he said.

“With so much uncertainty surrounding cricket scheduling currently, this is a timely opportunity for our women to resume competitive cricket at the highest level.”

 West Indies Women are scheduled to arrive in Derby on August 31 and will be based in at the Derbyshire Cricket Ground for the duration of the tour.

Full squad: Stafanie Taylor, Afy Fletcher, Hayley Matthews, Aaliyah Alleyne,  Cherry-Ann Fraser, Natasha McLean, Shemaine Campbelle, Shabika Gajnabi, Chedean Nation, Britney Cooper, Sheneta Grimmond, Karishma Ramharack, Shamilia Connell,  Chinelle Henry, Kaysia Schultz, Deandra Dottin, Lee Ann Kirby and Shakera Selman.

Tour schedule:

Monday, September 21:            1st Vitality IT20, England v West Indies

 Wednesday, September 23:     2nd Vitality IT20, England v West Indies

Saturday, September 26:          3rd Vitality IT20, England v West Indies

Monday, September 28:           4th Vitality IT20, England v West Indies

Wednesday, September 30:      5th Vitality IT20, England v West Indies

It was an issue they had planned to begin addressing during the regional women’s and U19 tournaments that were cancelled earlier this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

During the recent five-match tour of England, the Caribbean women were swept 5-0 in a woefully lop-sided series. Only Deandra Dottin walked away with her head held high scoring 185 runs at an average of 37 over the five matches. She also bowled well despite nursing a sore shoulder.

No other batter made 100 runs during the series. Captain Stafanie Taylor with 78 runs was the only player to come close while Hayley Matthews was the next best having scored 38 runs, 21 of them coming in a single inning. Other than Dottin and Taylor, no other batter had a double-digit average, an area of great concern for Browne-John.

“Most definitely, and we have recognized that fact,” she said while speaking on Sportsnation Live on Nationwide Radio in Jamaica on Saturday night.

She indicated that this was a concern that the selectors had been discussing for some time and which they had planned to begin looking into with the regional tournaments this year.

“Unfortunately, we were not able to have a regional senior or U19 tournament this year but that is something we have discussed as selectors; that we now have to start looking for the next group of players, the group that would normally be like an ‘A’ team or an U19 team. So we have to start finding that group of players and start nurturing that group,” she said.

Brown-John said the selectors had hoped that there would have been a “vibrant” U19 tournament as there was supposed to be an U19 World Cup in early 2021. “So, we were looking towards that tournament to find some talent and we were also hoping for the regional tournament to look, particularly for batters because that is the area in which we are struggling most,” she said.

“It was also mentioned that we don’t have left-hand batters in our top order, we have to pick somebody who is left-handed and who is performing, so that is another consideration.”

The selectors were also hoping to unearth a specific type of bowler as well, the lead selector revealed.

“We have a great number of offspinners but we only have one leg spinner in Afy Fletcher, but we don’t have a large number of left-arm orthodox bowlers,” she said. “When we go out, every team we face we come up against left-arm orthodox. We have to look for that kind of player in the Caribbean.”

The match was reduced to 36 overs per side because of excess moisture on the pitch. The umpires deliberated and delayed the toss and start of the match allowing the pitch time to dry. The game was then reduced by a further two overs to 34 overs per side as the rains came and forced a stop in play.

When play began, Pakistan women took advantage of some wayward bowling by the West Indies Women, both in the opening overs and then the back end of the innings which allowed them to post 190-8.

Muneeba Ali was the top scorer for Pakistan with 39 while Omaima Sohail scored 34 against the bowling of Shabika Gajnabi, who finished with figures of 2-26 and Chinelle Henry 2-37.

At the innings break, the umpires gave the West Indies Women a revised target of 194 runs from the 34 overs. The West Indies Women struggled to maintain or exceed the required run-rate, leaving too many runs to get in the final overs with wickets falling consistently.

Only Britney Cooper, who led all scorers with 40 and Deandra Dottin 37, offered any real resistance to the bowling of Fatima Sana Khan, who returned figures of 5-39 and Diana Baig 2-32, as the West Indies Women were bowled out for 171.

However, West Indies Women's Head Coach Courtney Walsh was pleased with the overall performance of the team throughout the series despite the back to back losses.

"There's a fair amount of positives with the cricket upfront. We lacked consistency in the last two games, we didn't show that hunger,” Walsh said.

“I wouldn't say it was complacency but we made some crucial mistakes that cost us right throughout. The results of both series wins were very good because we hadn't had a series for a while. Moving forward we have to look at where we are. We have the qualifiers coming up and World Cup after, so we have to address a number of areas."

Captain Stafanie Taylor shared similar Walsh’s sentiments.

"We will take away the series win but I guess when you look back on these two last games, I think we should have done a lot better,” said Taylor, who was nonetheless happy for the series win.

“It's very pleasing, we haven't won a series at home or away (in a long time), to actually win a series at home, once you win at home you can transfer that to a win away, so I'm really pleased we're back up and running when it comes to winning."

Batting first, the West Indies scored a paltry 174 all out from 49.2 overs. In reply, SAW cruised to 175-4 in 39.5 overs.

For the consecutive match, Kycia Knight top-scored for the West Indies with 48 while Deandra Dottin was once again among the runs with 36. However, the other West Indies Women, who were without captain Stafanie Taylor, failed to step up as only Shemaine Campbell and newcomer Mandy Mangru, with 15 each managed to get into double figures.

Shabnim Ismail was the spearhead of the South African attack with 4-44. There were two wickets each for Ayabonga Khaka (2-25) and Chloe Tryon (2-12) from just six overs.

South Africa’s victorious chase was led by Andrie Steyn who scored a solid 52 while Captain Sune Luus was once again among the runs with 47.

Anisa Mohammed was the best of the West Indies bowlers with 2-31 from nine overs.

In the match reduced to 20 overs per side because of persistent rain and a wet outfield, the West Indies were restricted to 89-7. Deandra Dottin, who scored 27, Stafanie Taylor, 18, and Afy Fletcher, 12, were the only batters in double figures as Nida Dar tore through the line-up with 4-10 from her four overs.

Pakistan duly achieved their target without much fuss as opener Muneeba Ali scored 37. Captain Bismah Maroof was unbeaten on 20 and Omaima Sohail 22 not out to lead their team to victory with seven balls to spare.

Shakera Selman with 1-15 from 3.5 overs and Fletcher 1-23 were the wicket-takers for the West Indies Women, who will now face a must-win match against unbeaten South Africa if they are to have any chance to advance.

In what was a must-win match for the Caribbean women, Captain Stafanie Taylor won the toss and asked South Africa to bat.

It proved to be the correct decision as Chinelle Henry took 3-11 and was backed up by Shamilia Connell, who took 1-18 as South Africa lost four wickets for just 22 runs by the sixth over. However, the situation could have been worse for South Africa as the West Indies dropped three chances in those early overs, two of them by Deandra Dottin.

Through the efforts of Mignon du Preez and Marizanne Kapp, South Africa began to fight back as the pair shared in an unbroken partnership of 39 before the rains came. Du Preez, who hit three fours in a row off Hayley Matthews’s first over that yielded 15 runs before the rains came, was unbeaten on 38 from 31 balls and Kapp on five with South Africa on 61-4.

Both teams earned one point each. With it, the West Indies Women move to third on the standings with 7 points and now await the outcome of the South Africa-India match on March 27. Should South Africa win, the West Indies will secure a semi-final berth, should India win, then the West Indies will be eliminated.

“It's not the way we liked. can't do much about it, something we can't control,” said a concerned Taylor, who praised Henry afterwards.

“We were hoping that we would have had a game. The bowlers have been doing a fantastic job, For Chinelle, there's something about South Africa, she always does well, she takes wickets.

 I tossed her the ball and she was in great rhythm. We will probably have some popcorn, hope that South Africa do beat India for us to give it a chance. It's something we can't control but do hope it goes our way.”

The West Indies Women’s captain conceded that their inconsistent form has led them to this situation where the team’s destiny is not within its own hands.

“Probably other than the first two games we have played we have been iffy. Travelling does put a dent in that, you don't get much recovery time, we are trying our best to recover,” she said.

“Niggles do creep in at times, it's about managing them. It's never easy when you are travelling around. If we go to the semis, you just have to go out and play, does not matter if it's a niggle or an injury, you have to step up. It comes down to how badly you want it.”

West Indies Women's all-rounder Deandra Dottin shared some of her captain’s concerns but remained optimistic.

 "We knew coming into this tournament that it was going to be tough. We had to travel after every game so consistency was difficult,” she said.

“We played good cricket, we just didn't put enough runs on the board in some games. The girls are still in good spirits; we always have that never die attitude. We just have to look forward now. The tournament is still playing so not all is lost just yet."

There will be two groups of five competing for progress to the semi-finals, with the top two from each group making it through.

The West Indies find themselves in Group B along with England, South Africa, Pakistan and Thailand.

West Indies had a successful tournament in 2018, reaching the semi-finals before being knocked out by the eventual champions Australia. Whilst their form in the format has not been ideal over the last few years, they still have some of the most exciting players in the tournament lining up for them.

Deandra Dottin is among the best attacking batters in the world, particularly if she's facing spin - in the last two years she scores at 8 runs per over against spinners, and only gets out every 38 balls.

With ball in hand, captain Stafanie Taylor will be looking to Shakera Selman to make inroads at the top of the inning - nobody swings the ball more than her over the last two years of T20I cricket, and on the hard fast pitches of Australia, movement through the air will be crucial.

If all goes to plan, West Indies will be more than confident of progressing to the knockout stages.

England made the final in the last edition of the T20 World Cup before, like West Indies, being eliminated by Australia. Heather Knight's side are still somewhat in transition, but a new-found balance relying on Nat Sciver to bowl four overs has allowed them to play an extra specialist batsman - it's given the batting line-up some serious oomph. On the bowling side of things, Sophie Ecclestone is a very important part of the English attack. A tall left-arm orthodox spinner, no player has taken more wickets for England in T20Is since the start of 2018 than Ecclestone, with 35 wickets in that time at an average of 16.82. Offering control as well as attacking threat, she'll be the likely fulcrum of the England attack. Knight will see anything but progress from the group as abject failure, and they'll be eager to go all the way.

Pakistan bowl 76 per cent spin over the last two years - that’s the most of any team in the world during that period. Much like Bangladesh in Group A, this does at least give them a clear blueprint to work to a basic structure they can focus on in the absence of many acclaimed stars. If they have one standout player it's Bismah Maroof, who has notched up 782 T20I runs in the last two years, comfortably the most of any Pakistan batter and the 11th most for anyone in the world. If anyone in Pakistan green is going to spring a shock on the opposition, it'll be her.

In contrast to Pakistan, 76 per cent of the deliveries sent down from South Africa over the last two years, come from pace bowlers, the most of any side in the competition. They were a disappointment at the last T20 World Cup, not reaching the semi-finals. Their bowling is mixed, but their batting is likely to focus around a few key individuals, and one in particular. Alyssa Healy is renowned as an absolute colossus, but Chloe Tryon - at least statistically - is almost keeping pace with her. A powerful left-hander, Tryon is particularly effective against spin bowling, rocketing along at 8.6 runs per over (compared to 7.6 runs per over against seamers). The South African has a particular preference for hitting off spinners, scoring 180  from 113 deliveries against off-break bowlers in T20I cricket. Given how much spin is bowled in T20 cricket, this sets Tryon apart, her strength and power meaning that she doesn’t need pace on the ball to cause damage - South Africa will be looking to her to really lift the scoring rate when she’s at the crease.

Thailand are the most notable presence at this T20 World Cup, an unfamiliar presence in top-level cricket for both men and women. However, much of their success in recent years and in qualification is down to Nattaya Boochatham. A skilful right-arm seamer, Boochatham has taken a lot of wickets since the start of 2018; in fact, in that time period, only Poonam Yadav has taken more international T20 wickets than Boochatham. Undoubtedly, this has been given a boost by the standard of opposition that Thailand have been facing, but it’s been Boochatham who has done the damage in those matches. If Thailand are going to lay a glove on any side at this tournament, she’ll have to be at her best.

West Indies Women will have to play catch up in their three-match T20 International series against India as they fell to a 49-run defeat in the first encounter at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai, on Sunday.

The match, which featured a record aggregate of 341 runs between the two teams, saw the visitors unable to chase down India’s imposing total of 195-4, as they only mustered 146-7 in their 20 overs.