If there is one team that dominates the shortest format, it has to be the Windies in men’s cricket. For those wondering about the women, they have a fair chance to catch the women in maroon hold their might against the host English side in an epic five-match T20 series.
Amidst the pandemic and global cricketing lockdown, England has shown the way to the world with three International sides touring the country amidst the shadows of a secure bio-bubble. The women are not sitting behind as their West Indian counterparts to stand up and get the scene rolling. The history of clashes between these teams in the shortest format is interesting.
Alike every ideal T20 game, there is an array of ups and downs in the past when these two great countries have played against each other.
These two teams met each other in November of 2009 for the first time. The T20 series had three matches in total and the venue was Basseterre. Windies got off to a flyer. English side lost the first two matches and the Windies sealed the deal in the series by getting it 2-1. The sides met again and at the same venue as before interestingly. It was the time for a down the wire encounter. England lost the game by a margin of mere 2 runs. This was in May 2010. After a void of 2 years, the sides were standing against each other in September 2012.
A lot of water has flown in the river during this time. Unlike the first instance, the venues were different for all the five T20 matches in the series. English side got the better off the Windies side and the “home advantage” factor was all over the face of experts against. England won the first four matches and losing the last match made them give away hopes of a whitewash but scores were settled. England got the series by 4-1.
The rivalry was definitely in the air and the stars aligned to see the teams face each other again in the next year. In the month of October of 2013 and on the ground of Bridgetown, England was ready to take on West Indies for three T20Is. English side was devoid of luck in the series and Windies had the better of them in nerve wrenching situations. The first match was close and Windies got home by a thin margin of 11 runs.
The next match was not close but rather turned out to be a nail biter. It was tied in the end as a total of 240 legal deliveries could not fetch a winner. England was demotivated by losing a series from points where things felt even. They lost the last game by a healthy margin and chances of getting a tied series finished. A few months later, both sides met each other on 24th March 2014. The venue had changed to Sylhet but the outcomes were similar to happenings of recent past. England got close but lost the match by a margin of 9 runs. On this very date, the sides met again after a gap of two years.
English side made sure that Dharmshala saw a close game but they somehow pulled the tracks from their hats to gain the match points by one wicket only. It was in late 2018 that the sides met next. Windies had marked the day as theirs and got the better of their English counterparts in some style. After a long wait, it was June of 2019 that brought a bilateral series between these two countries.
Northampton hosted two matches and Derby got the last match. The first and the last match from the three-match series were abandoned. The English women, however, ensured that they secure a win on the second match itself by a healthy margin to secure the series. The teams met in Australia this year for the world cup and English had the match in their pockets by some ease.
It is correct to observe that while England has had an upper hand in the recent past, T20 doesn’t allow you to write off any team. With the squad, Windies can dominate any team and fans will look forward to close matches and tight finishes from sides that are equally hungry to win.
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A student who enjoys studying cricket more than anything else, keen to learn the insights of the women’s game.