Women's T20 World Cup 2020: Windies skipper Stafanie Taylor's all-round show sinks Thailand
Scorecard:
Thailand 78-9 (20 overs)
Nannapat Koncharoenkai 33(48), Naruemol Chaiwai 13(25); Stafanie Taylor 3/13
West Indies 80-3 (16.4 overs)
Stafanie Taylor 26*(37), Shemaine Campbelle 25*(27); Soraya Lateh 1/21
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Skipper Stafanie Taylor shined with both bat and ball as West Indies opened their T20 World Cup campaign with a comfortable win over minnows and World Cup debutants Thailand.
Chasing just 79 runs to win, West Indies had no pressure and Haylee Mathews played some delightful shots before getting bowled by Soraya Lateh for 16. Run-outs of Lee-Ann Kirby and Deandra Dottin made things look nervy at 27-3. But skipper Stafanie Taylor then got together with wicket-keeper Shemaine Campbelle and stitched an unbeaten partnership of 53 as West Indies comfortably chased down the target in the 17th over.
Thailand opted to bat first with the view of putting runs on the board but got off to a very poor start. They lost both their openers early and the score read 11-2. Wicket-keeper Nannapat Koncharoenkai then stitched a mini partnership with Naruemol Chaiwai and tried to restore Thailand's innings. However, the wickets started falling like nine pins and Thailand could only manage to score 78-9 in their 20 overs. Koncharoenkai was the top-scorer with 33 runs off 48 balls.
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Stefanie Taylor, bowlers run through Thailand batting
Thailand got no momentum whatsoever in their innings as they lost it the moment the partnership between Koncharoenkai and Chaiwai was broken. Skipper Stefanie Taylor then joined the party by cleaning up Thailand skipper Sornnarin Tippoch. She also took the wickets of Onnicha Kamchomphu and Suleeporn Laomi and ended up with brilliant figures of 3-13.
Taylor, Campbelle see West Indies through
A target of 79 was never going to challenge West Indies but things looked a bit iffy at 27-3 when West Indies faced two run-outs and seemed to be rattled. A sense of calm was required and skipper Taylor stepped in alongside wicket-keeper Campbelle. The duo settled-in and played their natural game, wiping out any chance of an upset from Thailand. Taylor scored an unbeaten 26 off 37 balls which included three fours while Campbelle scored an unbeaten 25 off 27 balls which included 4 fours. Their partnership of 53 ensured that West Indies won the game with seven wickets in hand and more than three overs to spare.
Taylor led from the front with both bat and ball and helped her team get off to a winning start in the T20 World Cup. Her figures of 3/13 with the ball and 26* with the bat earned her the Player of the Match award. Here were her thoughts after the game:
The bowlers bowled really well. Shamilia Connell has been working a lot with Courtney Walsh and she was brilliant. We always look at dot ball percentage. That is a factor for us and we need to work on it. We need to make sure that we are rotating the strike. We need to be tough on ourselves.
The bowling I felt was good but while batting I felt I just couldn't get the ball off the square. But had to hang in there. I had decided with Campbelle we need to take our team through. We need to take our time to get used to the wicket. I keep telling my coaches that give me lesser bowlers and that I guess makes me feel that I need to bowl everyone.