Windies Women suffer whitewash in T20 series

Head coach Courtney Walsh said before the fifth and final T20 that his team will be looking to salvage some pride and avoid the dreaded whitewash, however, that did not materialise as the regional women went down by eight wickets to England at the Kensington Oval in Barbados to lose the series 5-0.

It was yet another toothless display with the bat for the Windies who could only manage to put 43 runs on the board in 16.2 overs.

So bad were the regional girls, only Djenaba Joseph was able to get into double figures when she scored 11 from 22 balls with one of only two boundaries in the entire innings.

Captain Hayley Matthews scored the only other four, but she was only able to get eight runs from nine balls

Seamer Freya Davies did the brunt of the damage with the ball by bagging three wickets for just two runs in 2.2 overs. Medium pacer Alice Davidson-Richards also claimed three wickets in an impressive spell, conceding just five runs from her two overs.

Charlie Dean capped off yet another professional display from the English ladies with two wickets for eight runs.

The visitors expectedly went about the run chase frantically and got to 44 for two in just 5.3 overs with Nat Sciver leading the way with an unbeaten 20 from 12 balls with three fours.

Off-spinners Kharishma Ramharack and Matthews were able to snare the wickets of Danni Wyatt for 11 and Sophia Dunkley for seven.

Despite the heavy defeat in the series, West Indies Women’s captain Hayley Matthews said there were some positive things during the series.

“I think we need to look at the positives from the series. It’s really good to have the youngsters joining the squad, and it’s going to be a big improvement in bolstering our squad and getting the experience. Yes, the series didn’t go our way but I believe this is the start of something good,” Matthews said.

The West Indies Women’s next assignment will be a tri-series against India and South Africa in South Africa in January, ahead of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in February.

The eighth edition of the marquee event will begin on February 10, with hosts South Africa taking on Sri Lanka. Cape Town, Paarl, and Gqeberha will host the matches in the tournament with the knockout matches set to be played in Cape Town. The final will be held on February 26.

The 10 teams are drawn in two groups. Group 1: Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. Group 2: England, India, West Indies, Pakistan, and Ireland.

Five-match T20 series results

First T20I: England Women won by eight wickets

Second T20I: England Women won by 16 runs

Third T20I: England Women won by 17 runs

Fourth T20I: England Women won by 49 runs

Fifth T20I: England Women won by eight wickets