WI more than ready to handle Aussies

WEST Indies Women’s captain Stafanie Taylor has deemed her team ready to handle Australia’s quest for revenge come the ICC World Twenty20 (WT20) semifinal today at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. The match bowls off at 4pm to be followed up by the other semis between India and England. The superstar all-rounder made it perfectly clear, however, that they’ve already got an eye on the final.

“We came in to defend our crown at home and so far we’ve gone about that quite well. I know Australia will be looking for revenge after the last tournament but we’re more than ready to handle them,” Taylor said. The Windies beat the Aussies for the first time in five attempts at the last WT20 two years ago, stunning them in the final to lift the trophy in Eden Gardens, India. This year, Taylor’s squad beat England to move into the semis, while Australia lost their final group stage match to India, which the Jamaican skipper thinks gives the maroon outfit an advantage.

“I think that win against England was crucial because we really wanted momentum going into the semi-finals. That match had everything we needed: good bowling, and of course, our fielding standard has been really high so I expect nothing less than that moving forward,” she said. She admitted, though, that the batting still needed to improve but was glad players like herself, Deandra Dottin, Hayley Matthews and Shemaine Campbell, who made a match-saving fifty against the English, were coming into their own in the wicket.

“Australia are the top-ranked team in the format so we will be cautious of that, but as defending champions, we know what we have to do and we’re ready to get the job done,” Taylor concluded.

As for the Aussies, their loss to India came without star batter and wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy, who left the game with a shoulder injury after she collided with teammate, Megan Schutt chasing a catch. However, vice-captain Rachael Haynes admitted she was “on track” to return.

“Obviously she’s got a couple of hurdles she’s got to jump over but I’ve got full confidence in our medical staff. We’ve got some of the best people in the country here with us helping her out. Obviously, it’s going to be how she progresses through that,” Haynes said.

As for Taylor’s jab at revenge, Haynes confessed that was far from their mind as it’s a new tournament and a fresh start in the knockouts. “We’ve kept track of what was going on in the West Indies’ group, and like last time, they’ve got some very dangerous players. We’ve seen this first-hand in the past, so we’ll definitely have to be on our game and not dwell on the past,” said Haynes.

In regards to danger players, she pointed to Dottin and Matthews, whose fifty stole the WT20 final in 2016 from the Australians, robbing them of a fourth consecutive trophy. But Taylor, whom she’s familiar with from Australia’s Big Bash T20 league as her Sydney Thunder teammate, is definitely their main target. “She’s a pretty dangerous player on her day with bat and ball. We’ll prepare for that.

Obviously, I know her pretty well from playing alongside her at the Thunder and hopefully, we can get one up on her,” ended Haynes.