Australia holds all the aces against Windies
Day 3 – Monday (June 26)
Australia Women v Windies Women in Taunton
Match in focus
Australia’s traditional rivalries have been against England Women and New Zealand Women, but it has been involved in some fascinating contests against Windies in global events in the recent past too.
It all started in the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2012 when Windies bowled well, but lost the plot with its batting. It then lost the ICC Women’s World Cup 2013 final, but then hit back when it beat Australia at the final of the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2016.
Meg Lanning, Australia’s captain, conceded that the team was hurting after the last loss, but it has upped its game significantly since then. In the warm-up matches prior to the current World Cup, Australia won both its fixtures, while Windies found the going difficult, losing both of its games.
Stafanie Taylor, the Windies captain, pointed out at the pre-tournament press conference that Windies was a side in transition in 50-over cricket.
The big reason why Windies has been successful in T20 Internationals but has not been able to replicate the results in ODIs is because of the inability of its batters to rotate the strike. India Women showed against England how crucial strike-rotation is, and Windies, which has not played an international game since winning the T20 International series against India in Visakhapatnam in November last year, has a lesson to learn there.
Australia is at the other end of the spectrum. Having tick-marked almost every box on offer, it is now in the process of trying to define of how the game is played in the first Power Play. All prominent voices have urged the need for the strike rate of batting teams to be high in the first ten overs, and Australia looks eager to do exactly that.
As the defending champion, it will be under pressure to live up to its standards. But that’s the challenge it has been preparing for since the team came together for a training camp back home.
Team news
There is no concern of injury in either team.
Player in focus
Australia Women
**Ellyse Perry:**The world’s second-ranked all-rounder’s journey building up to the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 was not as smooth as she would have liked it to be. Injuries to her hamstring and elbow kept her out of action for most part of the last five months, but now she is fully fit and will need little motivation to up her game.
Windies Women
**Hayley Matthews:**The last time she played for Windies in a world event, she was the star – her half-century was instrumental in Windies winning the ICC Women’s World T20 2016 title in Kolkata last year. Since then, she has gone on to become the new face of Windies women’s cricket, and how she performs at the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 will go a long way in establishing her future path as well as that of Windies.
What they said
**Meg Lanning:**It’s been a long time coming, and the preparation has been long but it has been great. Generally the scores in county cricket and one-day cricket have been very good. The practice wickets were good today. Hopefully the pitch will be fine and there will be lot of runs.
**Stafanie Taylor:**We are feeling very good. Very much pumped, and ready to go. It’s a good wicket, and won’t change much through the wicket. We are not focussing too much on Australians, and focussing on what we have to do as a team.
Number in focus
20 – Ellyse Perry is three strikes away from becoming only the seventh Australia Women bowler to take 20 World Cup wickets. Lyn Fullston, with 39 wickets from 20 games between 1982 and 1988, is on top of the list.
Teams (from)
Australia: Meg Lanning (capt), Sarah Aley, Kristen Beams, Alex Blackwell, Nicole Bolton, Ashleigh Gardner, Rachael Haynes, Alyssa Healy (wk), Jess Jonassen, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Belinda Vakarewa, Elyse Villani, Amanda-Jade Wellington.
Windies: Stafanie Taylor (capt), Merissa Aguilleira (wk), Reniece Boyce, Shamilia Connell, Shanel Daley, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Qiana Joseph, Kyshona Knight, Hayley Matthews, Anisa Mohammed, Chedean Nation, Akeira Peters, Shakera Selman, Felicia Walters.