West Indies Women’s captain Hayley Matthews is adamant that the team must find a way to put more runs on the board after another disappointing showing at the crease, this time against South Africa in the tri-series on Saturday.
The loss marked the 9th match in a row for the regional team, who last tasted victory in a win over New Zealand in September. Against South Africa, the team’s now familiar struggles at the crease came to the fore.
After holding the South Africans to 141 on a slow pitch, the West Indies could not get to triple digits as they were dismissed for 97. Perhaps even more concerning was the team’s collapse from 32 without loss to 67 for 6.
“It’s clear we don’t score enough runs. Not being able to put it together with big enough partnerships and get enough big scores, which is something we definitely need to win the big games that are crucial,” Matthews, who top scored for the team with 23 from 35 balls, said.
“At the same time we have a lot of injuries, at the moment, with a lot of our key batters out but we are hoping we can get some more runs on the board in future games with the team that we have,” she added.
Ahead of the World Cup the team could be bolstered in the batting department by the return of star all-rounder Stafanie Taylor. Taylor is close to returning from injury but not yet available for selection.
West Indies Women pace bowler Shamilia Connell grabbed two wickets on a productive return to the team’s line-up, but that did little to prevent a dominant 44-run win for South Africa in the women’s tri-series on Saturday.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat, South Africa all-rounder Marizanne Kapp scored a shot-filled 55 from 43, a total that included 5 fours.
Kapp who came into the line-up following the early dismal of opener Anneke Bosch, a set-back for the team at 27 for 1, went on to anchor the majority of the innings.
Following the dismissal of South Africa’s other opener Laura Wolvaardt, Kapp was joined by Sune Luus and the pair put together a key 63-run stand off 53 balls for the third wicket. Luss made 30 from 26.
On a slow surface, a spin-heavy Windies did manage to restrict the South Africans to a competitive 141 for 5 but Connell, who recently returned from injury, was the pick of the Windies bowlers with 2 for 17.
In response, the Windies poor batting form, particularly of late, continued to be cause for concern. They collapsed from 32 for 0 to 67 for 6. Thanks in large part to Masabata Klaas who took three of those six wickets. The bowler, in fact, found herself on a hat-trick in the tenth over when she removed West Indies captain Hayley Matthews and Shabika Gajnabi in back-to-back deliveries.
Matthews, who made 23 from 35, Britney Cooper (15), Shemaine Campbelle (11) and Connell (15) were the batters to get into double figures but all failed to carry on. Masabata ended with figures of 4 for 21.
The West Indies will look to break their T20 international losing streak when they face India Women on Monday.
West Indies left arm seamer Sheldon Cottrell took 3-14 from his four overs to help the Desert Vipers secure a dominant 118-run win over the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in the DP World IL T20 at the Zayed Cricket Stadium on Friday.
The Vipers took first strike and piled up an impressive 219-4 from their 20 overs thanks to an excellent 59-ball 110 from man-of-the-match Alex Hales which included seven fours and six sixes.
Captain Colin Munro added 56 while Guyanese left hander Sherfane Rutherford contributed a rapid seven-ball 23 including two fours and two sixes.
Sri Lankan pacer Lahiru Kumara was the Knight Riders’ best bowler with 2-31 from his four overs.
Then, despite a fighting 57 off 29 balls from Andre Russell, the Knight Riders were reduced to a paltry 108 all out in just 15.1 overs.
Cottrell was well supported by Sri Lankan leg spinner Wanindu Hasaranga and English medium pacer Benny Howell who took 2-21 and 2-6, respectively.
The Vipers now have three wins in as many games and are top of the table while, on the other hand, the Knight Riders are last with four losses from four matches.
New Zealand got the better of the West Indies Rising Stars, defeating them by 10 wickets in their final Group C match of the ICC Women’s U19 World Cup at the JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom on Thursday.
Despite the loss, Head Coach Steve Liburd was pleased with the team’s performance in the group stage, “We came up short today, but we had two good victories against Ireland and Indonesia, which qualified us into the Super6s of the inaugural ICC Women’s U19 World Cup, so for us that in itself is a big achievement.”
Liburd added, “Our focus now is the two games we have in the Super6s to secure one of the semi-final spots. But to me, one of the biggest positives is to see the girls continue their growth and development in their cricket journey in this tournament and after we leave South Africa.”
Qualification for the Super Sixes is determined by log standings. Each team in the Super Sixes takes the points won against the other qualifiers in their group through to the Super Sixes stage.
Group A winners Bangladesh, England (Group B), New Zealand (Group C) and India (Group D) are all moving onto the next stage with maximum points (4). Runners up Australia (Group A), Pakistan (Group B), West Indies (Group C) and South Africa (Group D) each take two points with them into the Super Sixes, by virtue of beating the third-placed teams.
Teams will face opposition from groups they were not in but will not play against those who finished the group stage in the same log position. Therefore, Group winners Bangladesh (A) and India (D) will not play against each other, though they are in the same Super Sixes group.
The same applies for runners-up such as Pakistan (B) and West Indies (C), who are now in one group, but will not face each other.
Each team will play two fixtures in the Super Sixes, with the top two sides in both groups qualifying for the semi-finals on 27 January. The final is scheduled for 29 January.
Rising Stars Super6s match schedule
January 22- vs Rwanda- 7:45am Eastern Caribbean/6:45am Jamaica time, Potchefstroom
January 25- vs England- 7:45am Eastern Caribbean/6:45am Jamaica time, Potchefstroom
Following their comprehensive review of matters related to the performance of the West Indies Men’s team, and their early exit from at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia last year, the independent three-member group appointed by Cricket West Indies (CWI) has submitted their report to CWI President Ricky Skerritt.
The group was chaired by Justice Patrick Thompson Jr., a High Court Judge of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, and included Brian Lara, the West Indies batting legend and current IPL T20 Head Coach, and South African international cricket coach, Mickey Arthur.
Commenting on the report, CWI President Ricky Skerritt said: “The quality of this report lends itself to becoming the foundation of the learning and planning culture that we have envisaged for the sustainable improvement of all our cricket teams. It brings great promise and direction after the grave disappointment of our T20 World Cup results. I am extremely grateful for the panel’s commitment to lend so much of their valuable time to this important review project, including carefully interviewing more than 30 players, coaches, administrators, directors, and other stakeholders who I am told spoke so willingly and frankly to the panel. The independent group’s report has been circulated to CWI’s Board of Directors and I look forward to the Board agreeing to implement the 34 recommendations as soon as possible.”
West Indies Women captain Hayley Matthews is relieved to have the additional firepower of players returning from injury, heading into the team’s upcoming T20 series against South Africa and India.
Ahead of its three-team series, the Windies Women will be bolstered by the return of former captain and star all-rounder Stafanie Taylor, bowler’s Shamilia Connell, Shakera Selman and Britney Cooper. Cooper was not injured, but the experienced middle order batsman will be playing in the team for the first time since 2021.
Taylor, in the meantime, has not featured for the team since the second ODI against New Zealand in September. It’s safe to say Matthews has noticed the absence of the team’s more experienced players.
The Windies have struggled to make an impact at the crease, recently, losing 3-0 last month in their ODI series against England, and 5-0 in the T20 format.
“It’s really good to have a lot of our players back. We had a couple of injuries over the past couple months which at the same time would have given some of the younger players really good opportunity,” Matthews told members of the media.
“But to have the senior core back, really gives us a strong team coming into a series like this. We’re thankful to have her (Taylor) back and know she’s been the gel of this team for quite some time now and has so much experience and knowledge on the game,” she added.
“Hopefully she gets an opportunity to go out there and get things rolling before the World Cup comes up.”
With the Women’s T20 World Cup set to begin next month, the team will play at least four matches in the upcoming series, playing two matches each against South Africa and India. The two top teams will then play each other in the Tri-Series final on February 2.
West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite believes his new opening partner Tagenarine Chanderpaul is well on the way to becoming a world class player, following an impressive debut last month.
The 26-year-old Chanderpaul, the son of legendary West Indies player Shivnarine Chanderpaul, earned plenty of plaudits after beginning his senior career against top Test team Australia last month.
On debut against the Aussies, Chanderpaul scored 160 runs, which was the second most behind the in-form Brathwaite, and had a top score of 51. In addition to his scoring, however, the player's relative comfort against top-class bowling on a good pitch was also of note.
“I think he’s world class, when you even look at a thing like the ‘leave alone’ that he has,” Brathwaite told member of the media, ahead of the team's tour of Southern Africa.
“...I think he will be a world class Test batsman, obviously he has the patience and you can see he has still the shots also. On some good Australian pitches his strike rate was higher than normal, so I really think he has a bright future,” he added.
“He is a very focussed player and very determined, so for sure he will make many West Indian’s proud.”
Brathwaite and Chanderpaul will look to lead from the front, as the team looks to bounce back from a poor showing in Australia last month.
Steve Smith will prepare for the Ashes and Australia's likely participation in the World Test Championship final by playing three County Championship games for Sussex.
The prolific batter will face Worcestershire and Leicestershire before coming up against Australia team-mate Marnus Labuschagne in a Division Two match against Glamorgan in May.
Smith, ranked as the second-best Test batter in the world behind Labuschagne, is then expected to feature in the World Test Championship final at The Oval in June – with Australia having all-but qualified.
The former Australia captain will hope a short spell with Sussex ensures he is in great touch by the time the first Ashes Test starts against England at Edgbaston on June 16.
Smith told Sussex's official website: "I am excited about joining Sussex for a few games in May and hopefully making a contribution to a successful season.
"I am particularly looking forward to working with the younger players in the squad and hoping I can provide some guidance to them."
The 33-year-old has previous experience of playing county cricket for Worcestershire.
Smith made a staggering 30th Test century in his last appearance for his country against South Africa at the SCG this month.
West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite expects major improvements from the team’s batsmen ahead of upcoming series against Zimbabwe and South Africa.
With the exception of productive cameos from Brathwaite and his opening partner Tagenarine Chanderpaul, the team’s last series against Australia proved to be a chastening experience, especially at the crease.
Over the course of two matches and four innings only Brathwaite, Chanderpaul and Roston Chase managed a half century. In addition, the Australians won the first Test by a massive 419 runs, where the Windies were embarrassingly bowled out for 77 in the second innings.
“We didn’t get the big scores, we didn’t get the big first innings scores that I would have liked. Going into Zimbabwe, especially at home, we know it won’t be a rollover,” Brathwaite told members of the media on Thursday.
“I really look forward to the batters spending time to get runs on the board. I think that will be crucial for us setting up the game to win it,” he added.
“We have to show our worth, I think the batters need to come and show more fight because Zimbabwe will not be easy at home. It’s not like we are going to show up and just get runs against Zimbabwe.”
Despite expecting a difficult task, the team can head into the encounter with some confidence having never lost to Zimbabwe in 10 encounters to date.
The West Indies Rising Stars defeated Indonesia U-19 Women by 77 runs at the North-West University Oval, to remain unbeaten at the ICC Women’s U19 World Cup.
The result saw the Caribbean team move into second spot behind leader New Zealand in Group C, with 4 points and a Net run Rate of +2.100. The team will next be in action when they play New Zealand on Thursday at the JB Marks Oval, Potchefstroom – 7:45am Eastern Caribbean/6:45am Jamaica. The top three teams from each group will move on to the Super12s.
In assessing the team’s performance head coach Steve Liburd was pleased to see the team’s hard work and planning bearing fruition.
"It's very pleasing to see us continuing to build on what we've learnt on the previous tours to the USA and India. The girls stuck to the processes and it's pleasing to see them reaping the rewards. Zaida (James) is reaping the rewards of the hardworking she's done at camps and over the holidays, it's good to seeing her put her hand up and taking charge of leading the innings."
James scored another half-century 55 from 37 balls and an unbeaten knock of 35 (14 balls) from Bajan batter Trishan Holder led the West Indies U-19s to 176 for 3 after 20 overs.
James also added a wicket in scores of 1 for 21, but it was TT’s Djenaba Joseph who was the standout performer with the ball. Joseph took 3 for 14 in four overs and effected one of three run-outs as Indonesia closed out their 20 overs on 99 for 9, still 77 runs short of the target.
"Each player understands their roles, that's why we've been having the contributions from the likes of Naijanni, Tristan, Shunelle and Zaida with the bat, Kudos to them. We have Jannillea Glasgow with her experience on the West Indies Women's Senior team, is taking the lead with the fast-bowling attack, so the bowlers are holding their own. Our captain is very inquisitive and intelligent, she commands the respects of her teammates and we have really good leadership discussions, which for is very comforting for us as coaches."
Shubman Gill's memorable double century inspired India to a thrilling 12-run win over New Zealand in their ODI series opener on Wednesday.
Gill's massive knock of 208 proved crucial despite Michael Bracewell (140) leading a superb New Zealand fightback attempt at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
Bracewell's heroics were not enough, however, with India finally ending his resistance in the last over.
Generally, it proved a tricky track for batting, with Rohit Sharma the hosts' second-highest scorer on just 34.
But this was all about Gill, whose aggression ensured India's momentum rarely waned even as wickets tumbled around him, the team reaching 349-8.
He got lucky just before reaching 50 as an outside edge off Bracewell was dropped by Tom Latham, but he powered on and tallied his century off just 86 balls.
It was Gill's ruthless approach in the final three overs that was ultimately decisive. Two sixes in the 48th and then a hat-trick of maximums in the 49th saw him surpass 200, before eventually falling to a brilliant Glenn Phillips catch in the last.
It took a while for New Zealand to look capable of threatening India's total, finding themselves in deep trouble at 131-6 in the 29th over.
With the Black Caps floundering, Bracewell had nothing to lose and made a mockery of the India attack.
His 140 off just 78, hitting an astonishing 10 sixes and 12 fours, ensured New Zealand were still in contention in the final over, requiring 13 runs off five balls.
But Shardul Thakur's yorker snared Bracewell lbw, just clipping his heel for the final wicket, leaving India rather relieved with New Zealand 337 all out.
Gill goes into the record books
With his exquisite knock, Gill became the only Indian batter to score a double century against New Zealand in the 50-over format.
He is the fifth batter from India to hit 200 or more in an ODI, while he is the joint-second fastest player to reach 1,000 ODI runs, alongside Pakistan's Iman-ul-Haq (19 innings).
Gill had nine sixes and a further 19 fours in his memorable 149-ball knock.
Siraj sharp with the ball
Mohammed Siraj was the only bowler to take more than two wickets on the day, ending with figures of 4-46.
He could not remove Bracewell, with Shardul eventually claiming that honour, but Siraj undoubtedly played a key role here, with the dangerous Mitchell Santner (57) and captain Latham (24) among his scalps.
West Indies batting legend Gordon Greenidge has revealed that he no longer feels the pain of watching the regional team struggle. His secret, turn off the television.
As one half one of a devastating batting duo, the other being Desmond Haynes, for a Windies team that rarely found itself on the losing end, it is completely understandable how the Caribbean team’s recent failures would be a cause of discomfort.
The Windies' struggles now date back decades but recently things have seemed particularly grim. At the last two World Cups, the team failed to progress from the preliminary rounds, while in the Test arena, a recent demolition at the hands of Australia will hardly have inspired feelings of all-conquering nostalgia.
“It used to hurt me but it doesn’t hurt me anymore because I don’t watch cricket anymore. Only if it is Test cricket and only if it is about a young player, who I have heard about, I will try my best to go and watch that kid play and make my own judgment about what I feel about that player," Greenidge told SportStar.
The former batsman’s recent grievances, however, run deeper than just the poor performance of the West Indies team. Greenidge has also expressed concern for the longest format of the sport, where he scored 7558 runs, and its continued relevance and longevity in the face of the blossoming of several T20 leagues around the globe
“On a personal note, I would not like to see 50-over withdrawn and just T20 being played. I believe T20 is a spectator’s sport, and it is no anymore a cricketer’s sport. Yes, cricketers play, but T20, for me, is like fast food. Test cricket is real cricket. From Test cricket, we came to 50-over, then T20, and now we are going to 10-over, where will we go from here maybe one-over or two-over per side? Keep the cricket alive but don’t banish Test cricket, that is the real cricket we all are here for, we all grew up with.”
The Cricket West Indies’ (CWI) Men’s Selection Panel on Tuesday announced the 15-member squad for the upcoming two-match Test Series in Zimbabwe, starting on 4 February. The Selection Panel recalled experienced fast bowler Shannon Gabriel, as well as left-arm spinners Gudakesh Motie and Jomel Warrican.
Gabriel has taken 161 wickets in 56 Tests, placing him joint 12th in the West Indies all-time wicket-takers list and more recently was the joint-leading wicket taker in the CG United Super50 Cup for the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in November last year.
Gabriel’s last Test Match was against Sri Lanka in November 2021. Warrican’s last international appearance was also in Sri Lanka in December 2021 when he played in both matches in the Test Series. Motie made his Test debut for West Indies in Antigua in June 2022 in the first Test of the two-match Series victory against Bangladesh.
Jayden Seales is unavailable for selection following a knee injury and subsequent surgery; while Anderson Phillip is also unavailable due to injury.
Lead Selector, The Most Hon Dr Desmond Haynes said: “This is the start of the international calendar for 2023 and we will hope to start with a win. We appreciate it won’t be as easy assignment as Zimbabwe, like most other teams in world cricket, play very well on their home soil on pitches that will support their style of play.”
Haynes added: “We looked at the conditions we anticipate playing in, and have included two left-arm spinners who didn’t go to Australia in Motie and Warrican. With our fast bowlers, Seales has done extremely well for us since he started back in 2021, but with him unavailable we have decided that Gabriel would be best able to fill that role. He (Gabriel) is an experienced bowler who has been at the international level for over 10 years and has knowledge of the conditions in Zimbabwe when we won there in 2017.”
West Indies will play both Test matches at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo, with the first Test running from 4 to 8 February, and the second match from 12 to 16 February. Ahead of the two-Test Series, West Indies will have a three-day warm-up match against a local side set for 28 to 30 January at Bulawayo Athletic Club. All matches start at 10am local time (4am Eastern Caribbean/3am Jamaica).
The last Test Series between Zimbabwe and the West Indies was also played at Queens Sports Club in October 2017. West Indies won the two-match Series 1-0, winning the first contest by 117 runs with the second Test ending in a draw.
FULL SQUAD
Kraigg Brathwaite (captain)
Jermaine Blackwood (vice-captain)
Nkrumah Bonner
Tagnarine Chanderpaul
Roston Chase
Joshua Da Silva
Shannon Gabriel
Jason Holder
Alzarri Joseph
Kyle Mayers
Gudakesh Motie
Raymon Reifer
Kemar Roach
Devon Thomas
Jomel Warrican
MATCH SCHEDULE
28-30 January: three-day warm-up match at Bulawayo Athletic Club
4-8 February: 1st Test at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo
12-16 February: 2nd Test at Queens Sports Club
Rohit Sharma has urged India to focus on themselves rather than top-ranked New Zealand ahead of another ODI series against the Black Caps.
The first of three matches takes place on Wednesday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, with India coming off a 3-0 series victory over Sri Lanka, and New Zealand having just earned a 2-1 success against Pakistan.
India contested a weather-spoiled series in New Zealand in November, with only one of three matches producing a result and the home side taking a 1-0 win.
Now they will hope for three full contests, with New Zealand having to cope without the rested Kane Williamson and Tim Southee, while Trent Boult is unavailable due to T20 commitments in the United Arab Emirates.
India suffered a blow on the eve of the opening match as batter Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of the series with a back injury. Rajat Patidar was named as his replacement in the squad, while Rohit announced Ishan Kishan would come into the middle order.
KL Rahul is another notable absentee, with his wedding to Bollywood star Athiya Shetty widely reported as being scheduled for the coming days.
Captain Rohit said: "New Zealand are a very good team. They're coming off a good series against Pakistan and obviously they're playing good cricket, so it will be challenging for us to come out and execute what we want to execute.
"We just want to continue from where we left off against Sri Lanka.
"We are not going to concentrate too much on the opposition. We will focus on what we want to achieve and what we want to do as a team. The last series was the perfect example of that. We just went out there, played some fearless cricket and take on the opposition."
India's series sweep against Sri Lanka was completed with a record 317-run victory on Sunday in the third game, after posting 390 and bowling out their tourists for 73.
Now they take on the team who sit at the top of the ICC rankings for the 50-over format, with the Hyderabad match followed by games in Raipur and Indore, prior to a three-game T20I series.
Good omens for the hosts
India have won their last two men's ODIs against New Zealand at home, as many as they had won across their five previous such fixtures (W2, L3).
They have also triumphed in their last three men's ODIs at the Hyderabad venue.
Landmark in sight for Gill
Shubman Gill is 106 away from reaching 1,000 runs for India in ODIs. Should he achieve the milestone with a century in this match, his 19th ODI, it would make him the joint-second fastest man to reach the mark, alongside Pakistan's Imam-ul-Haq.
Gill made 116 last time out, in the third ODI romp against Sri Lanka.
The West Indies Rising Stars opened their ICC Women’s U19 World Cup campaign with a 7-run win over Ireland Women’s U19 at the North-West University Oval.
Zaida James told CWI Media, “It’s certainly a great feeling to have an all-round performance like this and even better that we had a team victory. Our focus is one game at a time and to finish the group stage strong, then we will look at the remaining stages of the tournament.”
The victory sees the West Indies move to the top of the table in Group C, with 2 points and a Net Run Rate of +0.350. They play Indonesia on Tuesday January 17 at North-West University Oval, Potchefstroom – 7:45am Eastern Caribbean/6:45am Jamaica.
West Indies Rising Stars
125/3 (20 overs)
Zaida James 52
Freya Sargent 4-0-9-2
Naijanni Cumberbatch 21
Ireland Women's U19
118/7 (20 overs)
Annabel Squires 42
Zaida James 4-0-20-4
Amy Hunter 21
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