Windies women seek third win over Pakistan today
WEST Indies Women will look to extend their domination of Pakistan Women when the third Twenty20 International of the four-match series bowls off at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, today.
The hosts captured the opening double-header in Grenada earlier this week to take an unassailable lead and will be looking to also sweep the night double-header here, scheduled for the national stadium at Providence.
The match will take on special significance as it will be the first time West Indies will play a game under lights in the Caribbean.
West Indies’ success in the T20I series comes on the heels of their 3-1 domination of the preceding One-Day International series played at Arnos Vale in St Vincent.
While having not played at their best, West Indies have managed to overcome a lacklustre Pakistan side that has failed to strike form in any department of the game.
The hosts have been propelled by their vice-captain Anisa Mohammed whose gifted off-spin earned her 14 wickets in the one-day series and a haul of four wickets for nine runs in the last T20.
On the low and slow Providence track Mohammed, who showed all-round ability with a solid unbeaten 25 in the ODI series, should continue to cause plenty headaches for the Pakistanis this weekend.
However, their batting has hardly been imposing as skipper Merissa Aguilleira scored the only half-century (71) in the ODI series while Shanel Daley and Deandra Dottin were the other West Indians to pass 30.
Stacy-Ann King is the leading West Indian batter in the T20 series with 48 runs including an undefeated 32 while Dottin (23) and Stafanie Taylor (24) are the other players to reach 20 runs for the hosts.
At 31, Qanita Jalil has been representing Pakistan for the last six years and is an exciting all-rounder who showed fight in Grenada but the batters from the spin-friendly subcontinent pitches have surprisingly failed to negotiate Mohammed.
This weekend Bismah Maroof, the consistent Nain Abidi, Javeria Khan, Sana Mir and Rabiya Shah will have to match their ability with runs if Pakistan hope for their first win against the West Indies in T20 cricket.