Australia target fourth straight win against tournament surprise package West Indies

MATCH CENTRE | STANDINGS

• Match 14: Australia Women v West Indies Women
• Basin Reserve, Wellington
• Tuesday 15 March, 11:00 Local Time

And the tournament favourites will be looking to strengthen their grip on a top-four spot when they face West Indies at the Basin Reserve on Tuesday.

The West Indies started the tournament knowing that they’d need to pull off some shocks to extend their campaign beyond the group stage, with all-but one of the teams at the tournament ranked higher than them in the Women’s ODI Team Rankings.

But those shocks have already come, with wins over New Zealand and England getting the tournament off to a flier for the side from the Caribbean.

A poor performance against India last time out was the first disappointment of the month for Stafanie Taylor and her side, but the skipper has urged her players to lift their game to take on the daunting Aussies.

“You brush it off and move on to the next one,” Taylor said after the 155-run loss to India.

“We have no time to sit down and cry about this game. We have a big game coming up against Australia.

“I think we take what we can from this - some learning - and hopefully whatever we could take into that game can help us.”

Australia may look to rotate some of their players for this contest, after they made three changes for their recent victory over New Zealand.

All-rounders Annabel Sutherland, Jess Jonassen and Nicola Carey missed the win over the White Ferns and may earn a recall and Australia captain Meg Lanning knows she has great depth at her disposal.

"We thought we were under a bit of pressure (against New Zealand), but that’s the beauty of our batting line-up that we have great depth," Lanning said.

"We have players who can rescue us in a way that allows us to build the platform to play the way we did at the back end."

THE TEAMS

Australia Squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Darcie Brown, Nic Carey, Ash Gardner, Grace Harris, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Amanda-Jade Wellington. Travelling reserves: Georgia Redmayne, Heather Graham

**West Indies Squad:**Stafanie Taylor (c), Anisa Mohammed (vc), 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 William. Travelling Reserves: Kaysia Schultz, Mandy Mangru, Jannillea Glasgow

CWC22 DREAM11 FANTASY WATCH

Captaincy Pick – Rachael Haynes

Australia’s vice-captain scored a magnificent 130 off 131 balls with 14 boundaries and one maximum in their first match against England. She stitched together a 196-run partnership with Meg Lanning which helped them post that massive total of 310, which proved a bit too much for the English. She’s followed that up with handy scores in the 30s against Pakistan and New Zealand, and will be looking to go beyond 50 for the second time in what will be her sixth career match against West Indies.

Must have – Hayley Matthews

The West Indies all-rounder was in outstanding form in her team’s win over New Zealand on the opening day of the tournament. Her brilliant 119 at the top of the order showed the kind of touch that suggests she could have a huge World Cup, and she chipped in with ten overs and two handy wickets too. Matthews has flown under the radar slightly since, but has still looked in decent form with 45 against England and 43 against India, picking up three wickets across those games too.

KEY PLAYERS

Alyssa Healy - There's a reason why Healy is rated as the best ODI batter in the world on the MRF Tyres ICC Women's Batting Rankings, with her ability to score quickly at the start of an innings an important feature of the 31-year-old's game. Healy has three ODI centuries and 13 half-centuries to her name for Australia, but it's her impressive strike rate (99.39) in 50-over cricket that stands out.

**Stafanie Taylor -**The West Indies allrounder is a proven match-winner on her day and is always the wicket that opposition teams want most. Taylor is just as adept with her slow off-spin and is definitely one to keep an eye on.

TOURNAMENT FORMAT

All eight teams at the tournament will play each other across seven rounds in a league format.

The top four teams in the standings after the conclusion of the Group Stage will qualify for the semi-finals, which will be held in the final week of March.

THE VENUE

This is one of seven matches to be held at the Basin Reserve in Wellington over the course of the tournament.

An established international-standard ground, 'The Basin' will also be the site of the first semi-final in a couple of weeks' time.

LATER FIXTURES

Australia’s remaining tournament fixtures:

19 March v India
22 March v South Africa
25 March v Bangladesh

West Indies’ remaining tournament fixtures:

18 March v Bangladesh
21 March v Pakistan
24 March v South Africa