Will West Indies women win consecutive World T20 titles?

Stand-alone ICC Women’s World T20 tournament….

By Brandon Corlette

The Caribbean will host the first ever stand-alone ICC Women’s World T20 tournament, and a total of twenty-three matches will be played from November 9 to November 24 across the Caribbean (Guyana, St. Lucia and Antigua). The West Indies women will have an advantage playing in home conditions in this tournament.

In the 2016 Women’s T20 Tournament, played in India, the Stafanie Taylor-led West Indies Team were crowned champions.
West Indies will kick-start their 2018 World T20 campaign against Bangladesh at the National Stadium at Providence in Demerara, Guyana in a day-night affair. After this lone match in Guyana, the Caribbean ladies will play their second match in St. Lucia, against South Africa.
Stafanie Taylor, the World number two T20 batter, with a rating of 671, will continue to lead the West Indies Team. Besides Taylor, the West Indies’ batting department would include explosive 20-year-old opener Haley Matthews, who is currently ranked number 12 in MRF ICC T20 batting rankings; and the dangerous Deandra Dottin, who is ranked number 5 in MRF ICC T20 batting rankings with a rating of 616. The lone Guyanese in the squad, Shemaine Campbell, will also be a major asset with the bat, since her batting has been a revelation in the 2018 Regional Super 50 tournament. Sheneta Grimmond was the other Guyanese selected, but she was ruled out of the tournament after sustaining an injury.
In the bowling department, the West Indies will look to steaming right-arm fast bowler Shamilia Connell and left-arm quickies Chinelle Henry and Qiana Joseph to produce early wickets.
The spin-ace Anisa Mohammed will once more lead the spin attack. The vastly experienced Mohammed has played 98 T20 Internationals and has 113 wickets to her name, gathered at an economy rate of 5.50. With three five-wicket hauls in the shortest format of the game, her best figures are 5 for 10.
Haley Matthews, the World number 3 ranked T20 bowler, has also been effective with the ball in T20 cricket. The 31-year-old leg-spinner Afy Fletcher would, moreover, be a wicket-taking option. In a world where leg-spinners have troubled the batters, Fletcher is currently ranked number 13 with a rating of 569.
In the recently concluded T20 Series between West Indies and South Africa, the maroon ladies drew the five-match series 2-2. That series brought out some positives for the West Indies women, in that Natasha McLean performed consistently with the bat, scoring 160 runs from four innings at an average of 80; and Deandra Dottin was the most successful West Indies bowler, taking nine wickets in that Series.
In this stand-alone World T20 Tournament, West Indies women are in Group A with England, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
The West Indies squad reads: Stafanie Taylor (capt), Merissa Aguilleira (wk), Shemaine Campbelle, Shamilia Connell, Britney Cooper, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Chinelle Henry, Kycia Knight, Hayley Matthews, Natasha McLean, Anisa Mohammed, Chedean Nation and Shakera Selman.
West Indies group matches are slated as follows: November 9: West Indies v Bangladesh, Guyana; November 14: West Indies v South Africa, St Lucia; November 16: West Indies v Sri Lanka, St Lucia; November 18: West Indies v England, St Lucia.