The West Indies Women, on Wednesday afternoon, will make a long-awaited return to International cricket, following an eight-month absence. The Stafanie Taylor-led side is set to host Pakistan Women in, first, 3 T20Is, then, 5 ODIs; the latter being preparation for the 2022 ICC Women’s 50-over World Cup, to be hosted in New Zealand from March through to April.
The ladies of the Caribbean, whose last outing was a 5-nil T20I series white-wash away to the English, have not won a T20 International series in over 2 years. However, head coach Courtney Walsh, who will be in charge of his first assignment since his appointment, will be looking to rectify that.
Though without batters Natasha McLean and Shemaine Campbelle, the West Indies will welcome back the services of sisters Kycia and Kyshona Knight.
South Africa moved 2-1 ahead in the five-match Twenty20 series against West Indies on Tuesday, Kagiso Rabada holding his nerve to clinch a one-run win in Grenada.
Quinton de Kock marked his 50th international appearance in the format by smashing 72 from 51 deliveries, helping the Proteas to post 167-8 - their highest total so far.
Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen contributed 23 and 32 respectively, yet South Africa lost a clatter of wickets in the closing stages.
Obed McCoy claimed two in the penultimate over as he finished with career-best figures of 4-22. There was also a run out to follow in the next, the last of five wickets to go down for the addition of just 20 runs across the final 18 deliveries.
Having claimed 1-16 last time out, Tabraiz Shamsi seemingly turned the match in his team's favour by taking 2-13, Lewis and Shimron Hetmyer (17) the batsmen to depart to the left-arm slow bowler.
With the T20 series all square at one game apiece, both the West Indies and South Africa have now had a decent look at each other's resources heading into today's third Twenty20 International game in Grenada starting at 1 p.m. Jamaica time.
With the bowlers from both sides showing great resolve and aptitude, the respective camps will be hoping that their batting can show a bit more spark, as the sides seek to take the ascendancy and go 2-1 up in the five-match series.
The teams’ top order, including Evin Lewis and Andre Fletcher of the West Indies, and Quinton de Kock and Reeza Hendricks of South Africa, has been imperious in the power play, scoring well over 10 runs per over to set up the innings. However, the middle to latter overs have been a cause for concern for both camps.
“There are certain guys trusted with the responsibility to do certain things and we trust that the guys can go out and execute that,” Pollard said. “We admit that we faltered in the second game from a batting perspective, but to me, it’s not the end of the world.”
The T20 World Cup will now be held in the United Arab Emirates and Oman rather than India this year, the ICC has confirmed on Tuesday.
Australia was originally scheduled to host the 2020 tournament ahead of India staging it this year. However, the pandemic forced the ICC to postpone last year's tournament, giving Australia hosting rights for 2022.
A second surge in cases of coronavirus in India has now forced a major change to the 2021 competition, which will still be hosted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The ICC had asked the BCCI to decide on the feasibility of staging the tournament, with BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla saying on Monday it had opted against remaining as hosts.
The Dubai International Stadium, the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, the Sharjah Stadium, and the Oman Cricket Academy Ground will be the four World Cup venues.
ST GEORGE’S, Grenada – The Cricket West Indies Selection Panel today named an unchanged 13-member squad for the third CG Insurance T20 International (T20I) against South Africa. The match will be played at the Grenada National Stadium on Tuesday, June 29 with the first ball at 2pm (1pm Jamaica Time).
The five-match CG Insurance T20I Series is currently 1-1 after the first two exciting matches of the Series. Two-time World Champions, West Indies won the series opener by eight wickets on Saturday, while South Africa fought back to win the second match by 16 runs on Sunday.
This series forms part of the West Indies’ international home season with a total of 15 T20Is as they continue preparations to defend their title at the ICC T20 World Cup to be played later this year.
