West Indies Women’s captain, Stafanie Taylor, is confident the team is an improving force in One Day International cricket, ahead of the start of the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup, which bowls off in under a week’s time.
The West Indies, who briefly took part in the qualifiers, will get their campaign underway against host New Zealand on Friday, with few having the team among the favourites to win the title. For one, the West Indies have never won the tournament with their best result coming in 2013 when they finished runners-up to Australia.
Nor is the team’s record in the format particularly impressive. Over the last five years, the team has won just 3 of the last 14 series. In that run of games, they played 46 matches, winning 15, drawing 2, and losing 27 with 2 no results. Taylor, however, believes the team has shown improvement in recent months, with two of those wins coming in the last year.
“I think we're making strides (in the ODI format),” Taylor told members of the media.
"For us, it is more about improving every time and getting better at that,” she added.
The team has, however, never beaten New Zealand with their last encounter ending in a chastening 205 runs defeat to close out a 3-0 series defeat in 2018.
“We’re pretty excited about that. You probably wouldn't want to play the hosts in the first game but it is what it is,” Taylor said.
“I think for us, we have to go out there and play to the best of our abilities. You can see New Zealand doing pretty well, we've had a lot of cricket to look at, so hopefully we could get one over them."
Buttler hails England but acknowledges 'we are still in the same position'
Jos Buttler saluted England's performance in their must-win game against Oman, but acknowledged "we are still in the same position" at the T20 World Cup.
After their opening match against Scotland was rained off, defeat by Australia left the reigning champions requiring victories from their final two Group B outings - and a boosted net run-rate to keep their title defence alive.
Buttler's side were on a mission against Oman, who they dismissed for just 47 with 101 balls remaining - setting a new World Cup record in the process - before taking just 19 balls to successfully chase down that target.
England must now beat Namibia in their final group game on Saturday - while hoping Australia beat Scotland the following day - to book their place in the Super 8s.
"It was a really good performance," Buttler said. "We have had some really good training sessions and spoke about how we need to stay true to ourselves, and trust we have got really good players.
"We spoke about needing to win two games of cricket and, if we had the chance to affect the net run-rate, that would be important.
"The tone was set really well by the bowlers, and they managed to pick up those early wickets, restrict them, and knock them off.
"We told [the batters] then to be ultra-positive. We spoke in the lead-up to this. We have to win games and if we get a chance, we have to take advantage with the net run-rate.
"We have lots of confidence in our team, and we have another big game to come. We are still in the same position. We still have a must-win game on Saturday."
Afghanistan advance to Super 8s and seal New Zealand elimination
Afghanistan booked their place in the T20 World Cup Super 8s with a seven-wicket victory over Papua New Guinea, while eliminating New Zealand from the competition.
Rashid Khan's side claimed a third successive win to maintain their perfect start in Group C, which they top ahead of co-hosts West Indies with a superior net run-rate.
Afghanistan chose to bowl and made a fast start in San Fernando, dismissing captain Assad Vala, Lega Siaka and Sese Bau within four balls to leave the Barramundis at 12-3 early in the third over.
Wicketkeeper Kiplin Doriga top-scored with 27, before they were bowled out for 95.
Their opponents were also steady out of the blocks, having been reduced to 22-2 inside the third over.
However, Gulbadin Naib's unbeaten 49 from 36 balls - featuring four fours and two sixes - steadied the ship, while his unbroken stand of 46 with Mohammed Nabi helped get Afghanistan comfortably over the line.
Data Debrief: Farooqi leads the charge to condemn Black Caps to early exit
Fazalhaq Farooqi (3-16) led from Afghanistan's field again, with the tournament's leading wicket taker increasing his tally to 12 from three innings.
The side note to their victory was the sealing of New Zealand's fate with a match to spare.
Runners-up in 2021 and semi-finalists in the last three tournaments, it is the first time the Black Caps have failed to advance beyond the first group stage at the T20 World Cup.
Ruthless England keep T20 World Cup hopes alive with crushing win over Oman
England got their much-needed win in stunning fashion as they raced to an eight-wicket victory over Oman inside four overs.
After a washout stopped their first game against Scotland, England lost to Australia and knew that a defeat on Thursday would see them knocked out of the World Cup.
Oman just could not get a foothold with only Shoaib Khan able to reach double figures with 11 as England put in a stellar bowling performance.
Adil Rashid was the standout with his 4-11, but Jofra Archer (3-12) and Mark Wood (3-12) helped to cap the performance as Oman were all out for 47 after 13.2 overs.
With a target of 48, England came out to bat on a mission, with Phil Salt hitting two sixes on the first two balls before being caught.
In the end, it would only take them 19 balls to hit their target, with captain Jos Buttler getting an impressive 24 off eight balls, though it was Jonny Bairstow who got the important four to take them to 50-2.
Data Debrief: England came out on a mission, and smashed it
Oman's tally of just 47 is the fourth-lowest total a team has managed in a T20 World Cup match, while it also proved to be England's best bowling performance in the competition.
With 101 balls remaining following England's successful chase, they set a new World Cup record.
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