It’s testament to both individual excellence and far-sighted selection policies that as many as 12 of the players that could play the Women’s World Twenty20 final tonight at Eden Gardens were part of the final stages of the competition in the Caribbean in 2010. Merissa Aguilleira captained West Indies then, and Stafanie Taylor, Deandra Dottin, Britney Cooper, Stacy-Ann King, Shemaine Campbelle and Anisa Mohammed were also part of the XI that lost the semifinal to New Zealand in St. Lucia. Australia can call on Alex Blackwell, who led the side then, as well as Elyse Villani, Rene Farrell, Alyssa Healy and Ellyse Perry.
The Australians have made it through to a fourth consecutive final on the back of some fairly patchy performances. Only Meg Lanning, the current captain, and Villani have tallied more than 100 runs. Perry, the star allrounder, has chipped in with 81, but has just three wickets to her name after five matches. Jess Jonassen, who would have been expected to thrive in Indian conditions, has taken just one wicket in 17 overs of left-arm spin.
“West Indies have a number of players who can take the game away from you. We saw Cooper in the semifinal, who scored 60 and played a big role there. We’ve certainly done our homework on the big players, but certainly don’t think that they’re the ones who’re going to win the games for them. They’re a settled team that have been playing some good cricket, so we’re going to have to keep an eye out for all of them.”
Australian’s own plans for this competition were disrupted when Grace Harris, who smashed the first hundred in the Women’s Big Bash (103 in 55 balls for Brisbane Heat), was ruled out with Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT).
In the final, the team may well need some power-hitting, with the West Indies Women likely to play as many as four slow bowlers.
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Teams
Australia (likely): Meg Lanning (capt), Elyse Villani, Alyssa Healy (wk), Alex Blackwell, Ellyse Perry, Jess Jonassen, Beth Mooney, Erin Osborne, Megan Schutt, Kristen Beams, Rene Farrell.
West Indies (likely): Stafanie Taylor (capt), Hayley Matthews, Britney Cooper, Deandra Dottin, Stacy-Ann King, Merissa Aquilleira (wk), Shemaine Campbelle, Shaquana Quintyne, Afy Fletcher, Anisa Mohammed, Shamilia Connell.
