Toss West Indies chose to bowl vs England
Hayley Matthews, playing in her 100th T20I, asked England to bat first in a winner-takes-all (except for some unusual circumstances where both teams could advance) clash of the final group-stage match of the T20 World Cup. The team that triumphs in the match will advance to the semi-finals but England could lose by a small margin and still progress. South Africa are the other team who could go through from Group B.
England’s challenge will come as much from West Indies as it will from unfamiliar conditions. This is the first match England will play in Dubai after their previous three were in Sharjah. There, they tried a three-spinner, two-seamer combination against Scotland and repeated that on a more pace-friendly track in Dubai. Lauren Bell kept her place ahead of Linsey Smith, with Nat Sciver-Brunt to lead the attack. England made one change and brought back Alice Capsey, who was ill for the Scotland game, for Sophia Dunkley, who did not get to bat in the only match she played.
West Indies did not have as much good news in terms of players who have been struggling with injuries. Their former captain Stafanie Taylor, who has been struggling with a knee injury throughout the event, was not named in the XI for this match. But young allrounder Zaida James, who took a blow to the thumb and chin in their opener against South Africa, was passed fit. Their other change saw them bring in Chedean Nation for Mandy Mangru, who debuted in the last match against Bangladesh.
England are on a 13-match winning streak against West Indies, who last beat them in 2018. Overall, England have won 19 matches out of 29 against West Indies.
England: 1 Maia Bouchier, 2 Danni Wyatt-Hodge, 3 Alice Capsey, 4 Nat Sciver-Brunt, 5 Heather Knight (capt), 6 Amy Jones (wk), 7 Danielle Gibson, 8 Charlie Dean, 9 Sarah Glenn 10 Sophie Ecclestone, 11 Lauren Bell
West Indies 1 Hayley Matthews (capt), 2 Qiana Joseph, 3 Shemaine Campbelle, 4 Deandra Dottin, 5 Chinelle Henry, 6 Chedean Nation 7 Zaida James, 8 Ashmini Munisar, 9 Aaliyah Alleyne, 10 Afy Fletcher, 11 Karishma Ramharack
