Upbeat Windies wary of rain

GROS ISLET, St Lucia (CMC):

Reigning champions West Indies will be keeping anxious watch on the skies as they bid to return to the top of Group A, when they face South Africa in a highly anticipated clash of the ICC Women's Twenty20 World Cup tonight (7 p.m. Ja time).

The hosts easily disposed of Bangladesh in their opening match last Friday in Georgetown and a second straight win will see them leapfrog England back into the top spot, as they chase qualification for the semi-finals.

However, heavy rain over the last week have put the games at the Darren Sammy Cricket Stadium here in jeopardy and resulted in the England/Sri Lanka fixture being rained off without a ball bowled last Saturday.

With the tropical wave still lingering in the area, showers have been forecast for Wednesday but veteran off-spinner and former vice-captain Anisa Mohammed said West Indies were prepared for whatever eventuality they faced.

"Conditions are something that is beyond our control. When we get here tomorrow, there maybe some changes, they may not - it all depends on the weather," said Mohammed, who will play her 100th T20 International once she suits up on for the game.

"Like I said, that's something we can't determine at the moment but we're prepared. We know the rain has been around quite a lot and whatever happens, as a team we know what is required of us in whatever situation we face [on Wednesday]."

West Indies will be hoping to improve on their performance from the first game when they mustered a disappointing 106 for eight batting first, even though they bundled out Bangladesh for a historic-low 46, to earn a comfortable 60-run victory.

They will also be wary of the fact they were held to a 2-2 draw by the Proteas in a five-match series last September, after winning the first two matches but then going down in the last two.

"We've played against them recently. We went back and looked at the video and looked at where we fell short and we've worked on that, and hopefully we can come out on top in tomorrow's game," Mohammed said.

"We still have five games to go - and I say five because I believe my team will go all the way through - and we're looking to build on each game. Obviously all areas of the game we'd like to improve."

South Africa won their opening match of the tournament on Monday when they easily brushed aside Sri Lanka by seven wickets.

 

SQUADS:

 

WEST INDIES: Stafanie Taylor (captain), Merissa Aguilleira, Shemaine Campbelle, Shamilia Connell, Britney Cooper, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Qiana Joseph, Chinelle Henry, Kycia Knight, Hayley Matthews, Natasha McLean, Anisa Mohammed, Chedean Nation, Shakera Selman

SOUTH AFRICA: Dane Van Niekerk (captain), Faye Tunnicliffe, Mignon du Preez, Shabnim Ismail, Marizanne Kapp, Masabata Klaas, Lizelle Lee, Sune Luus, Zintle Mali, Raisibe Ntozakhe, Robyn Searle, Tumi Sekhukhune, Saarah Smith, Chloe Tryon, Laura Wolvaardt.

 

Women's T20 World Cup

 

 

Group A standings

 

M W L T N/R Pts

1. England 2 1 0 0 1 3

2. West Indies 1 1 0 0 0 2

3. South Africa 1 1 0 0 0 2

4. Sri Lanka 2 0 1 0 1 1

5. Bangladesh 2 0 2 0 0 0

 

Note: N/R - no result.