The Windies Women wrapped up their tour of New Zealand with a 7-wicket loss to the White Ferns in the 5th T20 International in Hamilton on Sunday. It was the team’s seventh loss on tour after surrendering 3-0 in the ODI’s and 4-0 in the T20 series, with one T20 washed out.
For Stafanie Taylor and her troops, it was a tour of a couple of near misses and in most cases, total domination by the 3rd ranked home team. The only taste of victory for the 5th ranked Windies Women came in the first tour match when they defeated the Canterbury Women’s team by 7 wickets. In that match, leg spinner Afy Fletcher bagged 3 for 44 to restrict Canterbury to 216-5. In the run chase, Kycia Knight made 71 not out, Hayley Matthews weighed in with 61, while Chedean Nation got 55 in the Windies total of 220 for 3 in 34 overs.
Following that morale-boosting win, the Windies Women entered the ODI series brimming with confidence, and the first game would not have dampened morale, as they narrowly lost to the host by just 1 run. Captain Stafanie Taylor lead from the front with three wickets while Afy Fletcher continued her good form, also taking three wickets as New Zealand posted 278 for 9. In the run chase, Taylor stood tall with a valiant 90, while Kyshona Knight got 44 not out as the Windies fell just short in their run chase.
The 2nd ODI was a totally one-sided affair with the Windies posting 194 with Taylor again leading from the front with 86. However, the rest of the batters failed to spark, and it was the opposing captain Suzie Bates who shun brightly, as her 101 not out carried the White Ferns to 195-2 in 30.4 overs. Again, Fletcher got amongst the wickets, claiming the two White Fern scalps.
With the series already lost, the Windies were looking for a consolation win in the final ODI, but once again the White Fern’s runs machine of Bates and Sophie Devine punished the Windies bowlers to post 310-5, their highest total of the series. The Windies Women could only manage 105 in their reply with Taylor again top scoring with 26. The White Ferns would claim the series 3-0 with Stafanie Taylor getting the third most runs in the series, 206, at an average of 67.33. Afy Fletcher finished with the second most wickets in the series, five.
It was then on to the T20 series, and the Windies would have fancied themselves in this format, owing to the fact that they have the number one ranked batter in Stafanie Taylor and the number one ranked T20 bowler and all-rounder, Hayley Matthews.
The 1st game of the series saw the Windies Women restricting the White Ferns to 167 for 6 in 20 overs with Deandra Dottin picking up 2 for 23. In their run chase the Windies Women fell short by eight runs as Matthews put in yet another good T20 knock with 53, while captain Taylor chipped in with 51 not out.
The 2nd game of the series was a totally one-sided affair, with the Windies women chasing 186 to win, posting a mere 79-8 in 20 overs. A demoralizing 106 run loss meant the ladies had to dig deep to keep the series alive.
Game three saw the defending ICC Women’s T20 champions showing more grit and determination. The Windies Women, chasing 134, fell short by one run as they could only manage 133 for 7. Matthews again showing her stocks, claimed three wickets. It was however, the former captain Merissa Aguilleira who top scored with the bat, getting 38 not out
The 4th match in the series had to be abandoned due to rain, and with the series already wrapped up, the White Ferns made few changes to their lineup for the 5th and final game.
Their relentless play on the field continued in the final game as they chalked up a 7-wicket win, to leave the Windies winless in the series. Once again Taylor and Matthews lead the batting with 42 and 40 respectively in a total of 139 for 5 batting first. However, the White Ferns, led by series top-scorer Katey Martin with 54 not out, overhauled the Windies total at 143 for 3.
Matthews and Taylor were the only two Windies batters to go past one hundred runs in the series, with Matthews ending on 112 runs from four games and Taylor 108. Deandra Dottin and Shamelia Connell finished with five wickets each in the series to lead the Windies bowlers.
Speaking after the match, WINDIES Women Captain Stafanie Taylor said the team’s performance in New Zealand had improved compared to the last time they toured, despite losing both the ODI and T20 series, 3-0 and 4-0 respectively and that they will build on the improvements. “We just have to use this tour as a stepping stone as we have the World Cup coming up in November and we’re defending our title at home. I’m hoping we have a tour and a camp for a few months to help increase our preparations as a team since we all live in different territories.”
TOP 5 – ODI
| Most runs | |||||||||||||
| Player | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 0 | 4s | 6s |
| SFM Devine (NZ-W) | 3 | 3 | 1 | 261 | 108 | 130.50 | 252 | 103.57 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 2 |
| SW Bates (NZ-W) | 3 | 3 | 1 | 234 | 101* | 117.00 | 229 | 102.18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 0 |
| SR Taylor (WI-W) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 202 | 90 | 67.33 | 231 | 87.44 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 2 |
| AE Satterthwaite (NZ-W) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 99 | 69 | 33.00 | 120 | 82.50 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Kyshona A Knight (WI-W) | 3 | 3 | 1 | 65 | 44* | 32.50 | 75 | 86.66 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
TOP 5 – ODI
| Most wickets | ||||||||||||
| Player | Mat | Inns | Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | BBI | Ave | Econ | SR | 4 | 5 |
| LM Kasperek (NZ-W) | 3 | 3 | 27.0 | 1 | 107 | 7 | 4/44 | 15.28 | 3.96 | 23.1 | 1 | 0 |
| ASS Fletcher (WI-W) | 3 | 3 | 23.4 | 0 | 152 | 5 | 3/55 | 30.40 | 6.42 | 28.4 | 0 | 0 |
| SFM Devine (NZ-W) | 3 | 3 | 18.5 | 0 | 93 | 4 | 3/24 | 23.25 | 4.93 | 28.2 | 0 | 0 |
| HR Huddleston (NZ-W) | 3 | 3 | 26.0 | 1 | 94 | 4 | 2/19 | 23.50 | 3.61 | 39.0 | 0 | 0 |
| LMM Tahuhu (NZ-W) | 2 | 2 | 14.1 | 0 | 73 | 3 | 3/42 | 24.33 | 5.15 | 28.3 | 0 | 0 |
TOP 5 – T20I
| Most runs | |||||||||||||
| Player | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 0 | 4s | 6s |
| KJ Martin (NZ-W) | 4 | 4 | 1 | 180 | 65 | 60.00 | 127 | 141.73 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 28 | 1 |
| AE Satterthwaite (NZ-W) | 4 | 4 | 2 | 160 | 71* | 80.00 | 120 | 133.33 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 2 |
| SW Bates (NZ-W) | 4 | 3 | 1 | 115 | 52* | 57.50 | 104 | 110.57 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 1 |
| HK Matthews (WI-W) | 4 | 4 | 0 | 112 | 53 | 28.00 | 79 | 141.77 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 1 |
| SR Taylor (WI-W) | 4 | 4 | 1 | 108 | 51* | 36.00 | 83 | 130.12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 4 |
TOP 5 – T20I
| Most wickets | ||||||||||||
| Player | Mat | Inns | Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | BBI | Ave | Econ | SR | 4 | 5 |
| LM Kasperek (NZ-W) | 4 | 4 | 15.0 | 0 | 98 | 10 | 3/31 | 9.80 | 6.53 | 9.0 | 0 | 0 |
| SFM Devine (NZ-W) | 4 | 4 | 14.0 | 1 | 87 | 6 | 3/12 | 14.50 | 6.21 | 14.0 | 0 | 0 |
| DJS Dottin (WI-W) | 4 | 4 | 15.2 | 0 | 106 | 5 | 2/23 | 21.20 | 6.91 | 18.4 | 0 | 0 |
| SS Connell (WI-W) | 4 | 4 | 13.0 | 0 | 125 | 5 | 3/35 | 25.00 | 9.61 | 15.6 | 0 | 0 |
| LMM Tahuhu (NZ-W) | 4 | 4 | 12.0 | 0 | 93 | 4 | 2/27 | 23.25 | 7.75 | 18.0 | 0 | 0 |
-WIPA Media
