Women’s T20 WC: Australia wary of West Indies’ Matthews threat ahead of semis clash

London, June 29 (IANS) As they gear up for Tuesday’s semifinal clash in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup with the West Indies, World No. 1 Australia are wary of the threat posed by the West Indies, especially their captain Hayley Matthews and Deandra Dottin, said their top player, Ellyse Perry.

Australia qualified for the knockout stages by finishing at the top of Group A, enjoying an imperious time of it in the groups, completing a fourth win from four with a record ICC Women’s T20 World Cup chase to beat India at Lord’s on Sunday.

In contrast, the Windies’ path to The Oval was rather more complicated. After winning their first three matches, the 2016 winner, the world’s seventh-ranked side, fell to defeats to England and then Ireland in Bristol, the latter loss leaving them relying on New Zealand to lose their final game.

Thankfully for Matthews and her team, hosts England pulled off a brilliant chase against the White Ferns, allowing the Windies to progress.

Matthews knows as well as anyone what it takes to thrive against Australia. Three years ago, she scored a sensational 132 from just 64 balls as the Windies completed the biggest chase in the history of WT20I, reaching a target of 213 with a ball to spare.

That came after she had scored an unbeaten 99 in the first game of a bilateral series Down Under, while Matthews’ 45-ball 66 paved the way for the West Indies to win this title a decade ago.

Ellyse Perry is one of the few survivors from the Australian team that was beaten that day at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

And unsurprisingly, she was keen to focus on the future rather than that defeat, particularly after back-to-back half-centuries, her first and second at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.

She said, “We don’t want that kind of bad juju. I mean, what’s that, 10 years ago? The game has changed so much in that period of time. And I just think, like you cannot pull things, can’t even pull things from the last match because it’s crazy how sport works.

“We’ve played each other quite a lot in the last couple of months. We actually had a tour to the West Indies earlier this year. We’ve played each other in a warm-up match, so we’re quite familiar with each other at the moment.

“They’ve got some tremendously talented and dangerous players with a lot of experience. So it will be a great challenge for us. It’s a quick turnaround, too, at a different venue, so I think we’re really looking forward to it.”

As well as Matthews, Deandra Dottin is another potential match-winner for the Windies, who has not yet exploded in the competition.

And Ash Gardner, part of a 100-run partnership with Perry in Australia’s win over India, knows exactly what a threat Dottin can be, having played with her for the Gujarat Giants.

She added, “The West Indies are a completely different threat (to India). They’ve got a lot of class and a lot of firepower within their team.

“Also, a lot of experience, obviously led brilliantly by Hayley Matthews, who is a player that can take away a game pretty quickly. But then you look at someone like Deandra Dottin, she’s a threat in all three phases of the game.

“She’s a fantastic player. I’ve had the privilege of playing with her, and seeing how she goes about her cricket, she’s so fearless in the way that she approaches it, which sometimes can be quite scary because she can flick a switch pretty quickly.”

Yeah, they’re a completely different threat. You know, they’ve got a lot of class and a lot of firepower within their team. Also, a lot of experience, obviously led brilliantly by Hayley Matthews, who’s a player that can take away a game pretty quickly. But then you look at someone like Deandra Dottin, she’s a threat in all three phases of the game. She’s a fantastic player. I’ve had the privilege of playing with her, and I guess just seeing how she goes about her cricket, she’s so fearless in the way that she approaches it, which sometimes can be quite scary because she can flick a switch pretty quickly.

“But then just to see the, I guess, inexperience as well that they’ve got and that rawness that they’ve got on their side. So yeah, they definitely pose a different threat. But luckily enough, we’ve played a series against them quite recently. So I guess we can do our homework in terms of how we’re going to approach a new venue, a fast venue, one that’s really nice to bat on. So for us, it’s being able to do our homework really quickly because we’ve got a day to do it. And then a really quick turnaround, and then just get really excited for what the occasion is,” she said.

–IANS

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