West Indies Women will chase a fourth consecutive ODI victory when they face Zimbabwe in the first match of their series in Harare on Thursday.
The regional side won their last three games during the tour of Ireland in July, while conversely, the hosts are winless in their last five encounters in the format, which came against Pakistan and New Zealand.
Additionally, ahead of the series, West Indies are ranked fifth in the ICC table, with Zimbabwe tenth.
All-rounder Chinelle Henry returns to the West Indies squad after sustaining an injury during the T20 World Cup in June, while Deandra Dottin will miss the tour, having been granted personal leave.
Captain Hayley Matthews will lead the side during the ODIs before taking leave ahead of the three-match T20 series.
“I think all the girls are happy to be back and are looking forward to the series. Zimbabwe are obviously a growing team in their first year within the ICC championship, so I know they’re certainly going to be looking to come out hard and play some really good cricket,” said Matthews.
“They are certainly a side that we can’t underestimate, even though they’re pretty new. We’re still going to need to be playing really well,” she added.
While the series win will be the immediate priority for West Indies, Matthews says the championship points on offer will also be critical.
“The games here are going to be very important. I think when you look at where we are in the table, automatic qualification for that next World Cup will be very crucial for us. To try to come down here and be able to take all six points, that’s certainly the goal for us,” Matthews said.
The West Indies captain says a series sweep would put the regional side in a much better place on the table and in a position where, once they do well for the remainder of this year and next year, they should be able to secure a qualifying spot.
Matthews also believes the transition from the T20 format to ODIs should be straightforward for her team.
“It’s obviously a longer format. You’ve got a bit more time at the crease, so
you probably need to be more consistent in areas with the ball. I feel like we’ve certainly played enough ODI cricket as a team that we understand what we want to do and the way we want to go about playing, even though we’ve been on the back of a lot of T20 cricket.”
Zimbabwe captain Josephine Nkomo is eagerly anticipating the start of the series.
“We’ve got a bunch of youngsters and I’m super excited that I got the opportunity to lead them. What makes it more special is that it’s on home turf.
“The goal is just to compete, just go out there, just be positive [because] at the end of the day, cricket is a game of bat and ball and not names or anything like that,” Nkomo explained.
She added that Zimbabwe have been playing a lot of cricket recently, which should soon lead to a turnaround in their performance. She also made a special appeal to the side’s fans.
“I would really appreciate it if we could have people coming out to support us. When we played in Bulawayo, we had quite a number of fans turning up, and that was quite a good atmosphere for us, which made us just continue pushing and fighting till the last ball. If we could have some numbers coming through, that would be great.”
(KH)
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