West Indies suffered an 81-run loss to India in their second ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup warm-up match in Rangiora on Tuesday.

India won the toss and decided to bat first, getting to 258 all out from their 50 overs with Smriti Madhana top-scoring, with 66 off 67 balls, and Deepti Sharma getting 51 from 64 deliveries.

Cherry Ann-Fraser (2-24 off 5 overs), Karishma Ramharack (2-50 off 10 overs), and Hayley Matthews (2-47 off 8 overs) were the best bowlers for the Windies.

Despite a top score of 63 from Shemaine Campbelle and 44 from Hayley Matthews, the West Indies chase never got out of first gear and they were eventually restricted to 177-9 off their 50 overs.

Pooja Vastrakar was the pick of the Indian bowlers with 3-21 off seven overs while Meghna Smith, Deepti Sharma, and Rajeshwari Gayakwad all took two wickets each.

The West Indies will kick off their World Cup campaign on Thursday against hosts New Zealand at Mount Maunganui.

West Indies women’s team head coach Courtney Walsh is convinced the team heading to ICC Women’s World next month is a well-balanced one.

On Monday, Cricket West Indies announced the naming of a 15-man squad, which as expected will be led by Windies Women captain Stephanie Taylor and feature several other experienced players.  Joining the likes of Taylor will be the experienced Deandra Dottin, Shemaine Campbell, and Anisa Mohammed who will be headed to her fourth World Cup.

The team, however, will also feature a host of younger players and two uncapped players Kaysia Schultz and Jannellia Glasgow in the reserves.  Walsh believes the team’s combination is suited to performing well in all areas.

“We were just trying to get the best combination we thought for the World Cup, so all the tours we had, the camps and thing.  All those things were taken into consideration in trying to get as balance an attack as we can in terms of batting, bowling, and fielding as well,” Walsh said.

“We wanted the complete package with regards to batting, bowling, and fielding. The 18 players that we have here is what we as the selectors thought was the best balanced 18, we could take. We have an adequate backup should there be any injuries.”

Cricket West Indies (CWI) Women’s Selection Panel on Saturday named a 15-member West Indies Women’s squad to participate in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, to be played in New Zealand from March 4 to April 3.

Stafanie Taylor, one of the leading all-rounders in the history of the game, will lead the squad with off-spinner Anisa Mohammed as vice-captain for her fifth Cricket World Cup.

The squad includes several exciting young players who will be competing at the marquee event for the first time. These are spinner Karishma Ramharack, fast bowler Aaliyah Alleyne, seamer Cherry Ann Fraser, allrounder Chinelle Henry, and opening batter Rashada Williams.

The 15-member squad will be joined by three traveling reserves, Kaysia Schultz, Mandy Mangru, and Jannillea Glasgow as per the ICC’s medical protocols for the tournament.

“The squad selected shows a blend of youth and experience. We have Anisa Mohammed who’s playing in her fifth World Cup and will help guide the younger ones selected. We have five players who have had their maiden Cricket World Cup selection. The team just completed a series against South Africa where the players got good preparation before the tournament. There were some relatively good showings with a few players having outstanding performances and it is expected that they would raise their levels even further during the competition. Afy Fletcher’s return strengthens the bowling department as she continues to be a world-class leg-spinner,” CWI’s Lead Selector for Women’s cricket Ann Browne-John said.

The eight-team tournament will start with a group stage round, where all teams play each other once before the top four sides compete in the semi-finals and finals. 

The West Indies Women will open their title chase against host country New Zealand on March 4 at Bay Oval in Tauranga. Their seventh and final match of the group stage is against South Africa on March 24 at Basin Reserve in Wellington. Semi-final one will be played on March 30 at Basin Reserve in Wellington, with semi-final 2 on March 31 at Hagley Oval in Christchurch. The final will be played on April 3 at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.

The full squad is as follows: Stafanie Taylor (Captain), Anisa Mohammed (Vice-Captain), Aaliyah Alleyne, Shemaine Campbelle, Shamilia Connell, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Cherry Ann Fraser, Chinelle Henry, Kycia Knight, Hayley Matthews, Chedean Nation, Karishma Ramharack, Shakera Selman, Rashada Williams. Travelling Reserves: Kaysia Schultz, Mandy Mangru, Jannillea Glasgow

South Africa have levelled their Women’s One-Day International series with the West Indies at 1-1 after securing a 96-run win in the third ODI at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg Thursday.

After winning the toss and batting first, South Africa put the West Indian bowlers to the sword to post their best total of the series, 299-8 off their 50 overs.

Opener Laura Wolvaardt dazzled with 117 off 123 balls including 11 fours and a six and captain Sune Luus contributed 56 off 93 balls.

Chloe Tryon provided some big hitting late in the innings with 42 from 24 balls including two fours and three sixes.

Shamilia Connell was the only bowler to have a good day for the West Indies with 4-54 off her 10 overs.

West Indies had to attempt their chase one batsman short as Chedean Nation, who got 35 in the second ODI, was unable to bat after picking up an injury in the field.

The batting was further handicapped when Captain Stafanie Taylor had to retire hurt for the second time in three games after being struck on the helmet by South Africa’s Nadine de Klerk early in the innings.

Eventually, despite a career-best 69 from 94 balls from Kycia Knight, the West Indies fell comfortably short of their target, finishing 203-9 off 43.5 overs.

Shabnim Ismail was the pick of the South African bowlers with 4-37 from 8.4 overs while Ayabonga Khaka took 2-27 off nine.

The decisive fourth ODI will take place on Sunday.

West Indies Women secured a nine-run super over win over South Africa Women in the second ODI at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg Monday.

The tourists lead the four-match series 1-0 after the first ODI ended in a no result.

On Monday, the match was reduced to 41 overs per side after a rain delay.

After winning the toss and electing to field, West Indies women had a solid outing with the ball to restrict the hosts to 160 all out in 40.4 overs.

South African captain Sune Luus top-scored with 46 while openers Laura Volvaardt and Tazmin Brits got 25 each.

All five bowlers used by the West Indies got two wickets each with Hayley Matthews being the most economical with 2-21 from 7.4 overs.

In a chase that should have been simple, the West Indies made it complicated by losing wickets in bunches.

Deandra Dottin followed up her magnificent 150 not out in the first ODI with a top-score of 37 while Chadean Nation contributed 35.

Chinelle Henry (26) and captain Stafanie Taylor (21) were the other key contributors with the bat.

The Windies had a chance to win the match before the super over when Nation and Shakera Selman were at the crease in the 37^th over needing just three runs to win.

Nation was then dismissed leaving Selman and new batter Karishma Ramharack needing three runs to win.

Ramharack and Selman each then got singles to leave just one run to win before Selman was trapped in front by pacer Shabnim Ismail for 11 to leave the Windies 160 all out from 37.4 overs.

Ayabonga Khaka was the pick of the South African bowlers with an excellent 5-26 from her eight overs while captain Luus supported well with 2-15 from seven overs.

West Indies batted first in the super over with Dottin and Matthews striding to the crease to face Ismail.

Some clean hitting from the pair meant the West Indies produced an intimidating 25 off their super over, leaving the hosts needing 26 to win.

Matthews then bowled the super over for the tourists and restricted the South African pair of Chloe Tryon and Tazmin Brits to 17 to secure a 9-run win and a 1-0 series lead.

The third ODI will take place on Thursday.

The First Women’s ODI between the West Indies and South Africa at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg ended in a no result today.

South Africa won the toss and put the West Indies in to bat and at the time of the first rain delay, West Indies women were 234-3 from 45.3 overs.

Deandra Dottin was not out on a mammoth 150 off 158 balls, with 18 fours and four sixes, and Shemaine Campbelle was the other not-out batter with 7.

Earlier, Hayley Matthews made 51 from 63 balls.

Dottin’s 150 is her third ODI hundred and the second-highest individual score by a West Indian, in Women’s ODIs, after Stafanie Taylor’s 171 off 137 balls against Sri Lanka Women in Mumbai in 2013.

Due to lack of time, the West Indies innings was declared at the same score meaning South Africa had a target of 204 off 29 overs based on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.

The South Africans got to 87-5 off 17.4 overs before the skies opened up once again and caused the match to be abandoned before 20 overs could be completed.

Tazmin Brits got 32 off 37 balls to top score for the South Africans.

The second ODI takes place on Monday.

West Indies women’s captain Stafanie Taylor will take no further part in the first ODI between the West Indies Women and South Africa at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg after sustaining a sharp blow to the arm at the non-striker’s end.

Taylor was forced to retire hurt after scoring 12 off 17 balls.

According to the management, "Out of an abundance of caution, she will be rested for the remainder of the match unless needed in the field."

Hayley Matthews replaced Taylor and made 51, featuring in a partnership of 153 runs with Deandra Dottin who is 150 not out as the West Indies reached 234-3 off 45.3 overs when rain interrupted play.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) Women’s Selection Panel on Friday named an 18-member squad for the One Day International (ODI) series against South Africa Women, at the Imperial Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, from January 25 to February 7.

The touring squad sees a return for Afy Fletcher, the experienced leg-spinner and right-handed batter, who returns from maternity leave.

The squad also includes three uncapped players: Kaysia Schultz, a left arm orthodox bowler, Mandy Mangru, a right-handed batter, and Jannillea Glasgow, a right-arm medium pacer.

The three newcomers were members of the West Indies Women’s A team, which played against Pakistan Women’s A Team last year.

“The South Africa series comes at an opportune time as the team prepares for the upcoming World Cup. The squad has been preparing and building during the past year, even with the limitations caused by the pandemic and hopefully, they can put it all together. The return of the experienced Afy Fletcher brings added variety to the bowling particularly with the absence of Qiana Joseph who has been ruled out due to injury,” said Ann Browne-John, CWI Lead Selector for Women’s cricket.

“In our drive to continue the expansion of our player pool, the panel has included three young, uncapped players. They are Kaysia Schultz, Mandy Mangru as well as teenager Jannillea Glasgow. Exposure to international cricket at this time will most certainly give them the experience and match time needed to develop and grow their individual talents. The panel believes that this blend of youth and experience will work well as we continue our preparations for the World Cup,” Browne-John added.

The West Indies Women are due to arrive in South Africa on January 16, where they will have a training camp ahead of the warm-up and four-match ODI series against the Proteas Women.

Full squad:

Stafanie Taylor (Captain), Anisa Mohammed (Vice-Captain), Aaliyah Alleyne, Shemaine Campbelle, Shamilia Connell, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Cherry Ann Fraser, Jannillea Glasgow, Chinelle Henry, Kycia Knight, Mandy Mangru, Hayley Matthews, Chedean Nation, Karishma Ramharack, Kaysia Schultz, Shakera Selman, Rashada Williams.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) today announced a squad of 23 players for a medical and fitness camp in Barbados, from January 9 to 14, ahead of departure for the four-match One-Day International (ODI) series against South Africa Women in Johannesburg.

The camp sees the return of veteran leg-spinner Afy Fletcher, following her year-long maternity leave, while teenagers, Zaida James from St. Lucia and Jannilea Glasgow from St. Vincent and the Grenadines have again been included in a senior West Indies Women’s camp.

Britney Cooper, Shabika Gajnabi, and Shawnisha Hector have all been ruled out by the CWI Medical Panel for medical reasons.

“The players will undergo medical and physical testing before the final squad of 18 are selected to travel. It is good to have Afy Fletcher back into the setup. Unfortunately, three players, Britney Cooper, Shabika Gajnabi, and Shawnisha Hector have been ruled out of selection consideration for medical reasons,” said Anne Browne-John, CWI Lead Selector for Women’s cricket.

Browne-John also commented on the emergence of the youngsters in the team.

“What is very promising for us at CWI is the inclusion of teenagers Jannilea Glasgow and Zaida James. They’ve been a part of the senior team camps before and also played in the first-ever West Indies Women’s A-Team home series against Pakistan Women last year. Their inclusion is a continued step in the developmental pathways we have established to grow women’s cricket in the region,” she added.

The selection of the final 18 players, who will travel to South Africa, will be announced at the conclusion of the camp.

The full squad for the camp is as follows: Aaliyah Alleyne, Reniece Boyce, Shemaine Campbell, Shamilia Connell, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Cherry-Ann Fraser, Jannilea Glasgow, Sheneta Grimmond, Chinelle Henry, Zaida James, Qiana Joseph, Kycia Knight, Kyshona Knight, Mandy Mangru, Hayley Matthews, Anisa Mohammed, Chedean Nation, Karishma Ramharack, Kaysia Schultz, Shakera Selman, Stafanie Taylor, Rashada Williams.

West Indies Women’s team will play four One-Day Internationals against South Africa Women in Johannesburg from January 28 to February 6 as part of their preparations for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup. 

Ahead of the first ODI West Indies will have a warm-up match against a South Africa XI on January 25.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) and Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Wednesday confirmed a revised schedule as both teams finalize preparations for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup to be played in New Zealand from March 4 to April 3.

West Indies Women were previously scheduled to play three T20 Internationals and five One Day Internationals against South African Women from January 15 to February 6. 

All matches in South Africa will be played in a bio-secure environment at the Imperial Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, a venue close to the teams’ hotel which has been secured for exclusive use due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“There has been a lot of hard work and collaboration with our friends at Cricket South Africa regarding this tour and we are very pleased that we have been able to confirm this rescheduled ODI Series, allowing us to play vital high-level international competition and complete preparations ahead of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup. We are extremely grateful to both CSA’s and CWI’s operational and medical teams for their efforts in confirming the schedule and we look forward to an exciting ODI series,’’ CWI CEO Johnny Grave said.

West Indies Women’s head coach Courtney Walsh says the tour is a good opportunity for the team to get valuable matches in.

“This tour will give us a chance to get some cricket in before the World Cup, especially since we have played less cricket than anticipated following the cancellation of the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe. This tour will show us exactly what we need to fine-tune before departing for New Zealand so that when we get there, we can hit the ground running and give a proper showing of ourselves on the world stage,” Walsh said.

The series will feature two-day matches and two day/night matches under lights.

The day matches start at 4 am Eastern Caribbean time/3 am Jamaica time and the day/night matches at 8 am Eastern Caribbean time/7 am Jamaica time.

West Indies Women head coach Courtney Walsh believes his most difficult task preparing for next year's ICC Women's Cricket World Cup, will be keeping his players focused and ready for the task at hand following the cancellation of the World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe.

The players returned home to their respective islands last weekend.

“That’s going to be a big challenge,” Walsh told the Antigua Observer.

“We had a break and didn’t get to play as much cricket as we wanted to play for them to get that exposure, so I don’t want to use the words ‘starting over again’, but it is going to be something similar where we are going to have to restart or reset and see how best we can get things going to have everybody clicking again.”

Following the cancellation of the qualifiers that were to be held between November 21 and December 5, the West Indies Women were forced to spend 11 days in quarantine in Oman.

West Indies Women had won their first match against Ireland Women by six wickets.

The 2022 ICC Women’s World Cup gets underway on March 4, 2022, with West Indies Women facing hosts New Zealand at the Bay Oval in Tauranga.

The West Indies Women are on their way home following 11 days of quarantine in Oman after the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Women’s Cricket World Cup qualification tournament in Zimbabwe was cancelled over Covid fears.

In the wake of the discovery of the new Omicron Covid variant, more severe global restrictions against travellers from a number of African countries, including Zimbabwe, forced the ICC to abandon the tournament prematurely and to send competing teams home as quickly as possible.

The West Indies squad was flown to Oman by an ICC private charter, with a short stopover in Namibia, along with eight other international squads. Oman was used as a staging area for the West Indies Women’s squad while they awaited an available route home.

“We are pleased to confirm that the West Indies Women’s squad will soon be making their way back home. We want to thank them for their patience and understanding as we worked with our counterparts at the ICC and Oman Cricket to facilitate their return at the earliest opportunity,” said CWI CEO Johnny Grave.

“We want to express our appreciation to the ICC, Oman Cricket and our operations team, who have worked tirelessly to ensure everyone was comfortable and remained safe.”

Meanwhile, Head Coach Courtney Walsh the players and coaching staff are relieved to be heading home after enduring challenging times in quarantine.

“The team is relieved by the good news that we will be home with our families before Christmas. The sudden cancellation of the Qualifiers and transition period in Oman has been mentally taxing on the entire team, both for the players and management staff,” Walsh said.

“As a management group, we tried to ensure that the players remained in a positive frame of mind. Our Strength and Conditioning Coach created a fitness challenge for all of us to participate in for the duration of the quarantine period, as it was something to take our minds off what was happening. I must say thanks to our Team Manager, the ICC and Oman Cricket, for all their logistical work, in ensuring we’re on our way home as quickly as possible.”

The players and team management are expected to arrive at their various West Indian home territories over the course of the next few days.

Following the termination of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers, ICC announced that the West Indies Women along with Pakistan Women and Bangladesh Women secured the final three qualification spots for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup by virtue of the existing ICC Women’s ODI rankings. The ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup will be played in New Zealand from March 4 to April 3, 2022.

Deandra Dottin was player of the match as the West Indies Women enjoyed a victorious start to their ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifying campaign in Zimbabwe on Tuesday.

Dottin top-scored with 73 from 87 balls to help the Windies chase down their target of 160 to defeat Ireland by six wickets.

After captain Stafanie Taylor won the toss and elected to field first, the West Indies bowled out Ireland for 159 in 43 overs.

Anissa Mohammed was the pick of the bowlers for the Caribbean side, taking 3-40 from her 10 overs.

She was supported by Hayley Matthews who took 2-20 from her 10.

Shamilia Connell took 2-33 from her 10 and Taylor took 2-15 from her 3 overs.

Gaby Lewis top-scored for the Irish with 36 from 58 balls.

The Windies Women then needed only 39.3 overs to chase their target with Dottin getting 73 and Taylor finishing not out on 41.

The West Indies and Sri Lanka both have two points, having won their first game, with the Windies at the top of the group due to a superior net run rate.

Those two will face off next on Saturday.

West Indies Women captain, Stafanie Taylor, has warned against complacency from her team as they begin their quest to qualify for the 2022 ICC Women’s World Cup to be held in New Zealand from March to April in 2022.

The Windies Women open their campaign tomorrow at 2:30am local time against Ireland in Harare and Taylor has warned against underestimating their opponents.

“That’s one thing you don’t want to do. Everyone’s here to win the competition. We’re not here to take any team for granted. We’re here to play hard cricket and come out on top,” said Taylor.

With the West Indies Women having completed a 3-0 series sweep against Pakistan prior to their arrival in Harare, Taylor says she hopes the team can carry their momentum into the tournament.

“I think we had a good series against Pakistan so I would love to see us continue where we left off from there. We’ve been playing some good cricket and getting some really good scores from our top players and even the lesser batting line up," she said.

Taylor concedes, however, that even with the team entering the qualifiers in good form there are still areas that need improvement.

“In our batting, it’s running the first one hard, turning twos into threes. In bowling, bowlers need to get early wickets and eliminate the wides,” she said.

The captain also provided some insight into the confidence of the team coming off some good results before the tournament.

“The morale is pretty good, especially seeing batters getting runs. I think that’s something that we’ve been working on because we’ve been relying on the bowling department for quite some time now so it’s really nice that the batters have been scoring those runs,” she said.

The West Indies other group games will be Saturday, November 27^th against Sri Lanka and Monday, November 29^th against the Netherlands with both matches beginning at 2:30am local time.

The Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers feature nine teams divided into two groups.

West Indies Women are in group A alongside Ireland, Sri Lanka and The Netherlands while group B comprises Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Zimbabwe and the USA.

Papua New Guinea were also supposed to be in the field but had to withdraw after a Covid-19 outbreak within the team before boarding their flight to Zimbabwe.

The top three teams from each group will advance to the Super 6 phase and the top three teams at the end of that phase will qualify for the 2022 World Cup alongside Australia, India, New Zealand, South Africa and England.

West Indies Women head into the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier on a winning note after defeating Thailand women by 151 runs in their warm-up match at the Sunrisers Sports Club ground in Harare.

West Indies Women posted 230-6 from their 50 overs, with Thailand Women replying with 79 all out in 36.3 overs.

The West Indies Women owed their score to Deandra Dottin, who scored 101 and Hayley Matthews, who contributed with 57.

 Onnicha Kamchomphu took 2-26 while Suleeporn Laomi returned figures of 2-37.

Thailand was never in the hunt, despite Chanida Sutthiruang’s 37.  Sornnarin Tippoch was the next best scorer with nine as Shakera Selman took 2-1 and Aaliyah Alleyne 2-9 proved too much for the opposing batters.

Naturally, Head Coach Courtney Walsh was pleased with the outcome ahead of the first match on November 23 against Ireland.

“It was good to get in a practice match in Zimbabwe to get accustomed to the conditions. The ladies went out and did what was required,” he said.

“Deandra and Hayley had good knocks, so it’s good to see the runs continuing from over from Pakistan. We gave all the bowlers a chance to get a feel of the pitch here in Zimbabwe. It was important to get match practice as Papua New Guinea pulled out so we are short one game.”

Walsh believes winning the series against Pakistan 3-0 and overwhelming Thailand will boost the confidence of his players.

“Once you keep winning you’re going to keep having confidence. We left Pakistan pretty confidently and it’s important to keep that momentum and not taking anything for granted,” he said.

“Obviously, this was just a practice game but the win is important for team morale and then we have a few days before we start the competition, so it’s good to get that win under our belts.”

The West Indies Women will continue their training schedule for the next three days before they bow into World Cup qualifying action.