Feb. 20, 2020, 3:44 a.m.
Stafanie Taylor – Captain Taylor has an extremely impressive T20I average of 35.80, which is the second highest on the list of batters to have made 100 runs in T20I. Higher than players such as Meg Lanning, Suzie Bates and Dan van Nierkerk. She excels when she faces the slower bowlers, averaging 42.72 runs per dismissal, and typically occupies the crease for 41 deliveries against spinners before being dismissed.
Batters usually favour hitting the ball through the legside against spinners, exploiting the natural swing of the bat to generate power with pace off the ball. Taylor however scores 58% of her runs against spin through the offside, with 26% of her total runs coming through the cover region of the pitch.
Overall Taylor scores at just a tad over a run a ball, and while this is not game breaking, Taylor provides an important role of occupying the crease and rotating the strike. This vital role provides stability to the innings, while enabling others to take risks and look for boundary options to accelerate the score. Taylor has the lowest dot percentage (40.9%) in the Windies WWT20 squad, which is representative of her ability to rotate the strike and not become bogged down
Deandra Dottin – Dottin’s return to the side after a lengthy injury could prove to be pivotal to the success or failure of the Windies campaign. She is hands down the most destructive batter in the squad, striking at an excellent 125.37 in all T20I’s, which places her in the top five striking players currently in the women’s game.
Dottin also averages a very healthy 26.60 in T20I, and coupled with her strike rate, you could make a case for saying she is the Windies most effective T20 batter. Her partnerships with the contrasting style of Taylor will be extremely valuable for the Windies in this tournament. Traditionally the two bat reasonably well together, and on the 57 times they have batted with one-another, they average a partnership of 26.21, and have a highest partnership of 101 against Sri Lanka in 2015.
Against the different types of bowling Dottin has faced, she shows no clear weaknesses against one particular discipline. The stats suggest that her favourite type of bowling to face would be left-arm pace, against which she scores at 8.21 run per over and is dismissed every 65 deliveries faced. She scores fairly quickly against right arm pace too, with a run rate of 7.96 per over, but is dismissed every 16.2 balls faced.
Hayley Matthews – Across Matthews’ 47 match international T20 career she averages an impressive 20.48, with a strike rate of 111.08,and high score of 107* against Ireland in May 2019.
She thrives when pace is on the ball, scoring at over seven runs an over, averaging 26.76 and hitting 19.5% of balls faced to the boundary. As an opener, she scores the majority of her runs in the Powerplay, but she has also proven to be an effective hitter in the death overs (16-20). At the death she scores at a strike rate of over 200, and only faces 21.6% dot balls, which is the lowest for any Windies squad member in this phase.
Matthews enjoys batting with skipper Stafanie Taylor, and on the 26 occasions where the two have batted together, their average partnership total is 29.34, typically scored at 6.4 runs per over. Their efforts have passed 50 on six occasions, with their highest partnership coming in the WT20 final against Australia, where they put on 120 for the opening wicket to set up that memorable victory in 2016.
Chedeane Nation – Nation averages just over 18 in T20I cricket, the fourth highest average in the squad, at just a shade under a run-a-ball. She excels when batting during the death overs, striking at 169.38 and hitting 24.5% of balls to the boundary.
Nation absolutely murders pace bowling, averaging 35.50 with a strike rate of 125.66. She does however show a fragility against spin bowling, where her average drops to 15.12 and her strike rate to 85.21. This is a fairly typical trend that is evident throughout the squad. Overall, the squad average against seam is 24.41, striking at 108.61, and against spin those figures fall to 20.91 and 97.27
Shemaine Campbelle – Campbelle will play her 100th T20 international match if she features during this tournament. Over her career she averages 13.69 striking at 81.82. Campbelle shows an ever-so-slight preference towards pace bowling against spin. Against pace she scores at .23 runs an over more than spin, and is dismissed ever 20 balls of seam she faces, rather than every 17 against spin.
Campbelle has proven to be an effective batter in the middle overs (7-15). In this period her average climbs to 25.18 and she is dismissed every 30 balls she faces.
Brittany Cooper – After making her T20I debut in 2009, Cooper has made 567 runs averaging 11.34 with a highest score of 61.
From matches where ball by ball data is available, against seam bowlers she has a higher strike rate (91.00), and is dismissed typically every 14 balls. When facing spinners, she scores a little bit slower striking at 84.21, but occupies the crease for longer and is typically dismissed every 22 balls, meaning that hr average against spin is higher than seam, a rarity in this current squad.
Sheneta Grimmond – Grimmond made her debut in 2019 and has only played seven matches so far in her short international career. Her average of 6.85 in T20I is honestly nowhere near good enough, but her strike rate of 84.21 shows promise.
In the 10 matches she has played for Guyana women, she averages a much healthier 12.30, with a strike rate of 91.79. She will be hoping to capitalise on her talent and improve her international statistics during this tournament.
-CWI
