James pleased with ODI in front of home crowd
Published:Wednesday | June 28, 2023 | 1:42 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
A TRIUMPHANT return for Chinelle Henry as well as a memorable debut at home for Zaida James were some of the focal points for the West Indies women starting the ODI series against Ireland in the best way possible.
The West Indies will enter their second ODI series against the Irish this morning starting at 9 at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground, boosted by their 58-run victory in the opening game of the three-match series on Monday, led by a Hayley Matthews century and Henry’s 53 not out.
Henry was playing her first game in three months after being injured during the Women’s T20 World Cup.
“After missing the last three months, it was pretty rough. Coming back here I had the backing of the entire staff and the group of players and everyone just backed me to go and get myself back in and feel how it feels to play cricket again,” Henry told CWI media.
Batting sixth in the order and coming back from injury, the message was still the same – form a strong partnership and give the team as big of an advantage as possible.
“Nothing changed. The message was to go out there and play your game. Bat as many balls as possible and see where we go from there. I had the backing of everybody in the dugout and it was just about getting a feel of things and getting in the groove for the remainder of the games,” Henry said.
It was the first time that St Lucian native, James, was playing for the West Indies in an ODI and just as importantly, in front of her home crowd, a moment that meant much to her.
“It was quite emotional because you don’t really get that. Sometimes you can get your debut anywhere out of the Caribbean. But at your home base, this is where you are from. So this is quite a fantastic atmosphere and I love the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground,” James said.
James opened with Matthews, scoring 13 but was efficient with the ball, allowing just six runs from two overs, including the final over.
“Things went pretty well. I was pretty confident. I had to just back my skills. Show them my talent. Show them what I have. Bowling the last over, I was ready because it felt like, Zaida just one more. I was ready and I just had to do what I had to do,” James said.