England aim to seal series; tough task at hand for lacking West Indies  

West Indies have been in the UK since the first week of this month and the way they performed in the opening two games, it shows the lack of preparation compared to the hosts. Another point that went in England way was the quality match practice as all the players in the squad have played a couple of Rachael Heyhoe Flint trophy games.

Unlike the first game, where Tammy Beaumont was severe on the opposition, England struggled a bit with their batting in the second, but a late surge by Sarah Glenn and Katherine Brunt towards the end of the innings helped their cause.

ALSO READ: Stafanie Taylor calls for 'feeder system' in West Indies to bridge gap between domestic and international cricket

After being 96 for 6 in the 15^th over, the duo of Brunt and Glenn added 46 runs in four overs. While the likes of Danielle Wyatt at the top and Heather Knight and Amy Jones in the middle, have contributed in bits and pieces, the form of Natalie Sciver will be a concern for the management and the right-hander will be eager to end her rough patch.

The hosts’ bowling has been top-notch in both the games. Brunt has been economical with combined outstanding figures of 7-1-16-1 while the likes of Glenn, Mady Villiers, Sophie Ecclestone and Natalie Sciver were all among wickets.

The way England restricted West Indies to 116 for 6 (1^st T20I) and 104 for 8 (2^nd T20I), it definitely shows West Indies have a lot more to work upon. The major concern for the Women in Maroon is their batting with only Deandra Dottin and Stafanie Taylor among the runs.

Head coach Andre Coley has stressed the fact that their batters need to show more intent while walking into the middle and if they want to pose a challenge to the England bowlers, they definitely need to come up with some extraordinary performance on Saturday.

ALSO READ: Andre Coley wants West Indies batters to show consistency and intent

Barring Dottin and Taylor, none of the West Indies batters could manage double digits in the series so far. While Dottin scored a fighting 69 in the first game, the second one saw Dottin and Taylor score 38 and 28 respectively.

In bowling, West Indies put on a much-improved show in the second game but conceding 50-odd runs in the last five overs took away the game from them. Taylor has been brilliant with the ball providing early strikes in both the games. Shakera Selman and Shamilia Connell were also among wickets.

However, Afy Fletcher and Aaliyah Alleyne have been major flops leaking away most of the runs - Kaysia Schultz could be the like-for-like replacement for the former. Its high time West Indies should address their issues immediately until it’s too late and if that means any changes in the playing XI, be it with the likes of Karishma Ramharack and Schultz waiting in the wings.

Squads:

England: Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Katie George, Sarah Glenn, Heather Knight (c), Amy Jones, Nat Sciver, Anya Shrubsole, Mady Villiers, Fran Wilson, Lauren Winfield, Danielle Wyatt

West Indies: Stafanie Taylor (c), Afy Fletcher, Hayley Matthews, Aaliyah Alleyne, Cherry Ann Fraser, Natasha McClean, Shemaine Campbelle, Shabika Gajnabi, Chedean Nation, Britney Cooper, Sheneta Grimmond, Karishma Ramharack, Shamilia Connell, Chinelle Henry, Kaysia Schultz, Deandra Dottin, Lee Ann Kirby, Shakera Selman