Restricting Australia batters key, says Taylor

2026-03-28 - 20:14

BASSETERRE, St Kitts – West Indies Women’s bowlers will have to do a better job at containing Australia’s explosive batting lineup if they are to stand a chance of making a comeback against them in the ongoing One Day International (ODI) series. The visitors produced a superb batting performance in Friday’s opener at Warner Park on their way to registering a comfortable 103-run win to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series. Six of Australia’s first seven batters scored above 40 to give their side a solid start and helped them post a massive total of 341. Even though Taylor delivered with the bat by scoring an unbeaten 105 – her eighth ODI century – no other batsman scored 40 as the Windies reached 238 for eight in their 50 overs. Speaking after the match, Taylor, who also took two wickets with her part-time off spin, said the bowlers needed to be on target against the top-ranked ODI women’s side in the world. “With Australia batting first, they are going to come hard at us. I think we need to bowl well, and I think that’s going to be the key. “Their batters are in good nick and they do hustle between the wickets and they do push you, so I believe that we have to come good with the ball,” Taylor said. “...We’ve won a few games against them and especially at home, so hopefully if we can get a few wins here at home, it would be really nice. Despite the result, Taylor admitted that it felt good to finally score a century against Australia. She said that while it would have been even more special if it had resulted in a win, it felt good to spend some time at the crease. “I literally said to myself, ‘long overdue’. I think against Australia, I’ve gotten close to making a 100 but never really crossed the line so it was nice and nice to spend some time at the wicket. “We didn’t get the win that we wanted. I’m a bit disappointed in that. I wish we had someone in the middle to boost the middle with me batting through, but nevertheless, a 100 is a great feeling,” Taylor said. CMC