Windies Women hunting for their first T20  win against India

-By Clifton Ross

AFTER being  2-0 down in the five-match T20 series, the West Indies Women will be hunting a win come this evening when they tackle India in game three, under lights at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.

With the final three matches of the T20 series being played in Guyana, the hosts are eager to return to their winning ways, especially with a change of venue and atmosphere. The eve of the 3rd encounter saw an ramped up Windies unit pushing in some stiff net sessions on Wednesday morning.

Under the watchful eyes of the coaching staff which includes head coach, former Windies pacer Courtney Walsh and his assistant, Guyanese Rayon Griffith, the women further fine-tuned themselves in the batting and bowling departments as they looked to shrug off the remnants of the last match they lost.

Recently-appointed Windies vice-captain, Guyanese Shamaine Campbelle, said that she believes her team has lots more to show over the next three matches. “We were doing some work, so we have to improve on our batting. We just have to go out there and express ourselves the way we know”, said Campbelle.

The 27-year-old Berbician, who is just four games away from 100 international T20’s, acknowledged that her own personal form will be key to the team rebounding and possibly forcing the series into a game 5.

“They say there’s always room for improvement and I’ve been out for a while with injury, but I’m coming back strong, so I just need to go out there, execute and do what I’m accustomed doing”, she ended.

Shifting gears to the first of three games at Providence, Windies will favour their star-studded bowling attack which features Anisa Mohammed, Stafanie Taylor, Afy Fletcher and Shakera Selman; players who should find the bowler-friendly Providence track suitable to their craft.

India, on the other hand, will be entering the match with their tails up having commenced their T20 series tour with back-to-back wins. Known as the “15-year-old run-machine”, leading run-scorer, Shafali Verma, with 142 runs under her belt thus far and a top-score of 73, will have all eyes on her for the remainder of the series.

Deepti Sharma, the 22-year-old off-break bowler, is another X-Factor for India, as she sits on the leading wicket-takers list with 5 victims heading into the third match. Clearly, India will be looking to wrap up the series come this evening.

The home team, on the other hand, will be keen on winning the remaining matches without any further hiccups; thus reminding the world why they were T20 World Champs. The match bowls off at 18:00hrs.