Matthews: T20 series will serve as tune-up for World Cup | Sports
ST GEORGE’S, Grenada (CMC):
West Indies Women’s captain Hayley Matthews is viewing their three-match T2oI series towards Sri Lanka Women as very important preparation for the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup.
The regional crew will look to rebound from their 2-1 series loss within the simply concluded One Day International Series once they tackle the guests within the opener immediately on the National Cricket Stadium.
It will be Matthews’ first time main the crew in over a 12 months, having final performed a T20 worldwide on January 29, 2025, once they took on Bangladesh Women in St Kitts.
And with the Women’s World Cup scheduled to be held from June 12 to July 5 in England and Wales, Matthews stated the series will be the right warm-up forward of the marquee occasion.
“It’s just about getting in a frame of mind obviously now to play some T20 cricket. Obviously, we’re going to go out there and look to be a bit more aggressive on the field.
“But yeah, it’s certainly a format that we figure we’re a lot more suited for as well, so I’m looking forward to the competition,” Matthews said.
“I feel the most important power we’ve might be the facility inside the crew. With gamers like Chinelle Henry, Deandra Dottin, who’re huge powerhouses and may launch a ball fairly far, seeing them at their greatest goes to be tremendous vital main as much as the World Cup.”
Matthews said while she expected Sri Lanka to change their cautious approach from the ODI series, she said the West Indies were prepared for the challenge.
She admitted that while there were still some improvements that needed to be made, she was impressed with the team’s progression over the past few months.
“They positively had a ‘take your time’ method within the ODI series, however clearly coming into the T20 stuff now they’re much less overs to bat, so that they will definitely be coming at issues so much tougher. But on the similar time, us as a bowling unit, we’ll simply have to regulate and preserve issues tighter and hopefully deliver extra wickets into play as effectively.
“Bowling wise our spinners have been doing pretty well and if we can just improve in the pace department and hopefully take some more wickets there, it will turn us into a good all-around team,” Matthews stated.
“I think T20 cricket is a game that’s played on the day, and we certainly have match winners within the team and that’s what’s super important. It’s just about showing up and executing really well when the day comes around and I think if we’re able to do that at our best, we are capable of beating any team.”
