When Stafanie Taylor dons maroon this evening, she will do so as a centurion in T20Is. However, any victory will be accompanied by mixed emotions, as it can only count as consolation with Australia sealing the three-match series on Monday night with a 9-wicket win.
Having gotten off to a good start, the West Indies Women were looking to lay a solid foundation when Taylor joined Britney Cooper with the score on 30 in the 6th over. Taylor found the going tough, having been beaten outside the off-stump by Perry on multiple occasions. The Australian seamer was though guilty of bowling too many boundary deliveries.
Therefore, captain Meg Lanning responded with pace off the ball, turning to her spinners. And Wareham rewarded her skipper with the big wicket of Taylor, who missed-timed one to be caught at mid-on. With that slip, WINDIES Women slid. There was babel out in the middle, as five West Indian wickets fell via the run-out route.
With seven wickets down and 64 runs on the board, Gajnabi and Henry did well to muster a 22-run partnership, giving Connell and company something to work with, as the hosts set Australia 98 runs to win.
With a mere 97 runs on the board, Connell started on the short side–which has been her story on this tour–gifting Alyssa Healy 14 runs in the very first over. Following an injury to Chinelle Henry, Afy Fletcher stepped up to do Afy Fletcher things. Fletcher, who one could argue should have been introduced earlier into the attack, claimed the only Australian wicket (Mooney) to fall on the night. The leg spinner finished with figures of 1 for 13 from her allotment.
Still, Australia got to their target in the 15th over with Alyssa Healy leading the way with 58 not out.
