Any T20 tournament is not complete without a hint of Caribbean flavor, the players in maroon add the spice of boundaries and the needed passion to any contest. They opened their campaign in the on-going T20 championship against Thailand.
Thought they got the expected victory under their belt; it is admirable that Thailand gave a fight to the powerful batting line-up. While batting first, Thailand failed to start well with the bat and the west Indian pace and bowling skills felt too heavy for the Asian team to handle. Thailand crumbled for 79 but they got themselves in the game on the back of their dedicated bowling and fielding.
At a point in the match, Thailand had restricted the West Indian team for 27 with 4 wickets down. It was after the DRS that saved Campbelle and brought women in maroon back into the mix. After the bump, the Caribbean skipper Stafanie Taylor and Campbell showed their temperament and experience. They got their team home with a crucial partnership. For West Indies, victory means an important one but for the Thai squad, it means something more. For them, it reflects that their stature against the strong international team is tall. This fight shall hopefully give them the all-important self-confidence to see them stretching their wings in times to come.
Thai openers, however, failed to perform at the WACA. West Indian pace attack took advantage of the early hint of swing and did not permit the openers for Thailand to settle and score. Opener Nattakan Chantam played two glorious drives on the offside. Nonetheless, the bowling team had then taken a vital control in the match and was consistently taking wickets and eventually getting the run rate lower. One of the few positives for Thailand in the game was their number 3 batter, who proved reliable and came up with healthy 33. She held her end for a while when one end was seeing new faces consecutively. Nannapat who came at number three for Thailand was rightly focused on getting one end to hold and prevent her wicket.
Congratulations @windieswomen!!
The West Indies team were stretched but they held their nerves despite a top-order collapse to win the 2nd Match of @T20WorldCup #T20WorldCup | #WT20WC | #WIvTHA pic.twitter.com/S0PJeWSXnv
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) February 22, 2020
However, any hope for late acceleration went down under the master spell for Taylor who took three wickets and dismantled that middle and lower order of the batting team. Interestingly, it was joyous to see swift fielding from the Thai team. The reason that came out behind the furious fielding and throwing was the selection of current first-generation Thai side from the softball team. With Caribbean opener, Ann Kirby and another important batter Dottin, the direct throws from Thai women brought them into the game.
Windies were now facing the danger of being trapped in an upset. However, from 27 for 4 and followed by a careful review from Campbell, the team came back into the match slowly on the back of a useful partnership alongside the skipper. It has to be noted that the Thai team showed a lot of character and didn’t let the opponents easily. Skipper Taylor with Campbelle saw Thai women throwing themselves around and were starting to build pressure with tight overs. Eventually, the score was too low to defend. Nonetheless, the message is out for all teams that Thai women are here to stay and compete.
Thailand Women: 78/9 (20.0)
West Indies Women: 80/3 (16.4)
Result: West Indies Women won by 7 wkts
Player of the Match: Stafanie Taylor
There is a reason why @ThailandCricket is the most-loved team of the tournament 🙏🙌 pic.twitter.com/RFNKaXaXwH
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) February 22, 2020
A student who enjoys studying cricket more than anything else, keen to learn the insights of the women’s game.
