Zaahier Adams
The Proteas Women’s team will be fully behind England when the former champions meet West Indies in the final ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Group B clash in Dubai today.
Laura Wolvaadt’s team completed their round-robin play on Saturday with a seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh, leaving them with three wins from four matches and in second place in Group B. However, the West Indies, who are in third place, could eliminate the Proteas by virtue of a superior net run-rate, should they beat England.
3 from 3 🙌
Relive a great day in the #T20WorldCup, as we secured our third victory of the comp 🏴#EnglandCricket
The Windies have a net run-rate of 1.708 compared to the Proteas’ 1.382. England currently boast a NRR of 1.716. England are favourites to beat the West Indies having won 19 of their 27 T20I clashes, including the last 13 matches on the bounce.
West Indies, though, are a team blessed with high-quality individuals such as captain Hayley Matthews, Stafanie Taylor and Deandra Dottin, who all have the ability to win matches single-handedly.
Even more dangerous for England – and the Proteas’ of course – is that neither of the trio have yet to hit their stride at the T20 World Cup. Matthews, who is the No 1 ranked T20I all-rounder, has particularly had a disappointing tournament – averaging just 17 with the bat and 31 with the ball.
Equally, the explosive Dottin is due a big score. Nicknamed “The World Boss” in reference to West Indies’ men’s legend Chris Gayle’s moniker “The Universe Boss”, Dottin is a hugely explosive batter.
The 33-year-old, who came out of retirement for this T20 Women’s World Cup in the UAE, still holds the world record for the fastest century off just 38 balls more than a decade later.
England are fully aware of the threat Dottin poses, particularly left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone, as the pair were teammates at the Manchester Originals in The Hundred. Ecclestone has got the better of Dottin twice in five T20I innings, while Dottin boasts a head-to-head batting strike rate of 84.90.
"It's really exciting," Ecclestone said of their international rivalry.
“I'm always really excited to play for England and especially against West Indies. They have some of the world's best like Deandra in their team now – it's great to see her back playing international cricket
"I love going against the world's best and me and Deandra have great battles when we play against each other. We are people who want to get one-up on each other because we play against each other so often, then play the same team with each other.
"She tries to whack me as far as she can as many times as she can, so hopefully I can get her out early and she doesn't do that to me too many times."
England are virtually secured of qualification and can only miss out in the unlikely scenario of a heavy defeat to the Windies, but Ecclestone said they are trying not to focus on any other permutations than finishing the group stages unbeaten.
"We had a conversation about what distractions are and I think that we sometimes get a bit ahead of ourselves," Ecclestone said.
“It's staying in the moment, staying in the present. We've got a big game on (today), we know, against the West Indies and we need to win to put us in the best position possible."
The Windies, meanwhile, are also trying to stay in a relaxed frame of mind in order to put up their best showing in the must-win clash.
"The girls are in a pretty good mood," said Windies assistant coach Ryan Austin.
“I mean, Dubai is a really beautiful place, so they're keeping themselves active and together. We introduced a little saying recently where we said that, ‘If you're on if you're on thin ice might as well dance’.
So, basically meaning, you have nothing to lose. Have fun, enjoy yourself, be brave and believe in yourself.“
While it might sound like a typical Calypso approach, Austin stressed that due to the experience of the Windies squad they have assessed all scenarios already.
"Our strategy is obviously based on if you look at how our group is set up, you know net run-rate is really going to be a big factor," he said.
"Knowing the girls, and I have known some of them for a really long time, a lot of them are pretty confident. You have a Matthews and a Dottin and Taylor on your side, it becomes pretty easy, you know, because these girls have a lot of experience. They are already having conversations amongst themselves."
England will play New Zealand in the second final on Friday. If South Africa advance, then they will play Australia on Thursday.