WEST INDIES DO NOT WANT TO LEAVE ANYTHING TO CHANCE
Media release
West Indies vice-captain Chinelle Henry wants her side to take matters into their own hands in an unpredictable Group B at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026.
Semi-finalists in 2024, the ICC’s seventh-ranked nation have beaten New Zealand and Scotland in a perfect start to this year’s tournament and sit second in the standings behind hosts England.
Ahead of facing Sri Lanka in Bristol on Sunday, Henry encouraged her side to continue their strong form.
“This table is completely blown open, wide open,” said the all-rounder, who recovered from an injury in their warm-up game against Australia to feature against Scotland.
“It's just about trying to win all of our games and not leaving anything to chance. We saw how Scotland came at us, pretty hard.
“It's just about trying to take each game one at a time and trying to play our best cricket every time we step out on the park.
“If we can do that and if we can win all our remaining games, then we're in a better position to qualify instead of relying on other stuff.”
Five of the six sides in the group have picked up wins, featuring several tight matches, including the Windies’ nail-biting seven-run victory over Scotland on Thursday night.
Only twice, in 2014 and 2018, have the West Indies won their opening three games at an ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, losing to Australia in the semi-final on both occasions.
“Winning our first two games put us in a really good spot in our group,” she added.
“There's no easy game in this tournament, so it's just about going back to that drawing board.
“We just have to assess those first six overs as a bowling group and see how best we can figure out how to get out of those overs better.
“But the group has been doing really well, and we’ve just got to keep backing our skills and keep trusting each other.
“It's a really good competition, and it's really good to see every team in this competition is fighting.”
Sri Lanka are riding high after defeating New Zealand for the first time at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
However, Hasini Perera is insisting that they must treat the West Indies game as any other match, even though a win could guarantee a place in the semi-finals.
She said: “That will be a crucial match tomorrow to reach the semi-finals. We thought of taking it lightly without letting the pressure get to our heads.
“From the coaches, we have been advised to take it as just another match and plan accordingly moving forward.
“Everyone has big hopes about getting to the semi-finals. But we always get advice from the management and the captain to plan the matches one by one and move forward.
“That means doing what we have to do in the moment well.”
Sri Lanka v West Indies sees the battle of the all-rounders as captains, with Chamari Athapaththu leading Sri Lanka against Hayley Matthews’ Windies.
And Perera has teased that her bowlers will be ready for any batter they face, including the top-ranked all-rounder in the world.
“After the New Zealand match, we got three days to practice, so I think everyone topped up what they had to top up during those three days,” she said.
“We discussed the plans with the coaches. We also had a chance to practice those plans. I hope they will be executed well in the match as well.
“The bowlers have made plans for each batter. They even tried those plans in practice, so I think they could do something good.”