West Indies Women vs Australia Women, 2nd T20I, Bridgetown: Preview, predictions, likely XIs

West Indies Women vs Australia Women, 2nd T20I, Bridgetown: Preview, predictions, likely XIs

West Indies Australia Women Megan Schutt

After being clean swept by Australia Women in the ODIs, West Indies Women put up some sort of fight in the first T20I. They recovered from 18/4 to 108/6, and kept Australia at bay till 18.5 overs. While this may not sound a remotely close contest, they were at least not obliterated the way they were in the ODIs.

The bowlers, stars of West Indies’s fightback, included two debutants. While they did not quite run through the Australians, they ensured none of the tourists could explode in a flurry of boundaries. However, they need to do better if they have to pull one back.

The batting, however, has been too reliant on Stafanie Taylor, who scored 44 not out in a total of 108/6 when none of her teammates went past 15. Had they done, the hosts would have been able to put up a sterner challenge.

The Australian bowlers were excellent, but their innings was marshalled almost entirely by Meg Lanning (54*). As with West Indies, nobody else went past 15… though this was really a one-off. The Australians have been relentless over the past two years, and are likely to seal the series here.

Head to head

Australia Women lead 10-1 here including 3-0 on West Indian soil. Their only defeat came in the 2016 World T20 final, when West Indies lifted their maiden trophy.

Key players

Chinelle Henry (West Indies Women): Henry got the Australian openers with her first 7 balls in the first T20I, and finished with 4-0-15-2. Her spell was easily the most impressive for West Indies Women in this entire tour. The onus will be on her to spearhead an inexperienced attack.

Meg Lanning (Australia Women): Few batters in the history of world cricket have been as consistent as Lanning. On this tour in particular, she has been dismissed once for 233 runs. As the hosts have figured out, they are not going to win unless they see her back.

Likely XIs

West Indies Women: Kyshona Knight, Britney Cooper, Stafanie Taylor (c), Reniece Boyce (wk), Stacy-Ann King, Natasha McLean, Sheneta Grimmond, Chinelle Henry, Shabika Gajnabi, Afy Fletcher, Shamilia Connell.

Australia Women: Alyssa Healy (wk), Beth Mooney, Meg Lanning (c), Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner, Rachael Haynes, Erin Burns, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Georgia Wareham, Megan Schutt.

Prediction

Australia to win comfortably.