The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has been waiting for the fitness updates of some of their key players ahead of their next assignment in the Women’s T20 World Cup, where they will face Scotland two days later, to bring their campaign back on track. A ten-wicket defeat for the Caribbean side wasn’t ideal for an opening clash against South Africa.
Stafanie Taylor looked in a little bit of discomfort during her gusty and unbeaten knock of 44 runs in 41 balls with the help of a couple of boundaries and one six with a strike rate of around 107. The reports claimed that she had been troubled with soreness in her knees, as she had been due to undergo a medical evaluation on Saturday morning.
West Indies was asked to bat first under the heat of Dubai, where they didn’t enjoy a great start with 18/2 in the fifth over of the encounter. Apart from Taylor, most of their batters started but failed to extend the batting from that point in time.
West Indies left-arm spinner Zaida James suffers blow to the jaw
It wasn’t a decent start in the defense of the Hayley Matthews-led side, as their opening bowler, Zaida James, suffered a blow to the jaw, attempting a return catch off Laura Wolvaardt, as the ball deflected on her hand and onto her face. It was the first ball of the second over where the Proteas chased down the target of 119 with 13 balls to spare.
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James, the 19-year-old girl from St Lucia, left the field and was later seen sitting on the sidelines with a plaster on her chin before potentially have been going through the injury assessment.
“Zaida for sure, I know, it was pretty much just a knock on her face. I think the seam might have hit her on her face so, she was in a bit of discomfort and [had] a bit of swelling around her jaw.” The West Indies women’s captain was addressed immediately at the end of the game. “But she’s a tough girl, so hopefully, that’s just one of those knocks that you get on the field, and she hopefully will be able to be back up for the next match.”
The temperature of around 38 degrees Celsius didn’t make it pleasant for the players in Dubai as they kept on struggling in the intense heat. Matthews agreed that despite being in the city for nearly two weeks, the heat hasn’t helped the conditions of the player’s fitness.
“I have to say probably the hottest place I’ve ever played cricket, or have ever been on the whole, and I mean, that’s someone coming from the West Indies. Some difficult conditions but, we’ve been here for about two weeks now.” The opening batter of the side expressed.
None of the West Indies bowlers was able to earn a prize in the bowling department of the game, but they have been among these conditions for the last few weeks, having been in Pakistan and training in Dubai.
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“We came down here probably expecting some pretty good wickets. We camped here quite a bit before we went to Pakistan in April, and we tend to spend a bit of time down here in training, so we knew what the ICC Academy grounds are like. and those were pretty decent wickets early on so that’s what we’re expecting.” The West Indies captain elaborated.
The unbeaten opening stand of 119 runs between Wolvaardt and Tazmin Britts took the Proteas home as they made a cracking stand.