ICC MEDIA RELEASE
· India, South Africa and the West Indies are within two points of each other while Sri Lanka won their first two points
· West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor: “Having lost the first game, we had to go back to the drawing board because we know South Africa have evolved and they have been playing well over the last few years”
· South Africa captain Dane van Niekerk: “We did not take the opportunity to go up the ladder. We need to find ways to win ODI series and a draw is not great but probably better than a loss”
· Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu: “Between the two teams, we did not see much of a difference. We won the third game and lost the second game very narrowly”
· India captain Mithali Raj: “We won the series but would have ideally liked a 3-0 score-line to garner maximum points since we had not lost to them in an ODI for five years”
The latest two series in the third round of the ICC Women’s Championship delivered closely fought games and propelled West Indies out of the bottom half of the table as the teams test their competitive edge with the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2018 less than 50 days away.
Reigning World T20 champions West Indies drew their three-match series at home to South Africa 1-1 while India defeated Sri Lanka 2-1 in an away series of the eight-team tournament, which sees sides compete for four direct qualifying spots in the ICC Women’s World Cup 2021 in New Zealand.
The results mean the West Indies have moved up one place to fourth position on the points table led by New Zealand. The defending ICC Women’s World Twenty20 champions are on nine points while South Africa are not far behind with seven points and in seventh position. India are in sixth position with eight points while Sri Lanka have drawn their first two points with a victory in the last match of the series. All four teams have played nine matches each so far.
The West Indies lost the series opener by 40 runs but after the second match was a no-result due to rain, came back strongly to win the third match by a huge margin of 117 runs. Opener Hayley Matthews notched a fine 117 with 17 fours while all-rounder Deandra Dottin followed up a brisk 44-ball 59 with four for 36.
The West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor was expecting more points from the series and South Africa captain Dane van Niekerk, who came up with some fine efforts during the series, too saw it as a lost opportunity in terms of tournament points.
West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor: “I am not 100 per cent satisfied with the outcome of the series. Having lost the first game, we had to go back to the drawing board because we know South Africa have evolved and they have been playing well over the last few years.
“So, losing that first game was a wake-up call for us and that we needed get things going and get back to the game we know we can play. In the second game, I thought we did well to restrict them and I believe that if that game had played until the end, it would have been good. Today, we just played brilliantly.
“We still have way more to go. We still need to improve on our 50-over game. We still need to get consistent where that is concerned. We have the players to do it, but we must work on being far more consistent.”
South Africa captain Dane van Niekerk: “I’m quite disappointed. The way we started the ODI series, especially the second game, we did very well, given the conditions. But you have to give credit to them, the West Indies played very well in the final match and we have to go back to the drawing board.
“We did not take the opportunity to go up the ladder. We need to find ways to win ODI series and a draw is not great but probably better than a loss.”
“I’ve to commend the bowlers, they have been pretty good on the flat surfaces. I was really excited with the batters at the start of the tournament but looks like we lacked a bit of steam. I would like everyone in the top six to chip in and one of them to go big. There are lots of positives, we just need to learn to win games of cricket.
“Kudos to them. They were brilliant today (in the final match). They outplayed us in all facets – they bowled better, batted better, even fielded better.”
In Sri Lanka, India’s 10-match victory run against the home side was brought to an end in the final encounter of the series by captain Chamari Athapaththu’s match-winning century. The hard-hitting batter, whose amazing 178 not out against Australia in last year’s World Cup is acclaimed as one of the great all time knocks in the women’s game, eclipsed a century by rival captain Mithali Raj earlier in the day.
Raj had scored 125 not out, but Athapaththu’s 115 helped the side make it with just one ball to spare. The second match of the series too was close as India won by seven runs after notching an impressive nine-wicket victory in the opener.
Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu: “We’re a bit disappointed that we did not win the series, despite coming very closer in the second game, However, we are taking a lot of confidence out of this series, since, there is clear indication of a turnaround of our team’s performances, especially under our new coach Mr. Harsha De Silva.
“Between the two teams, we did not see much of a difference. We won the third game and lost the second game very narrowly.
“We are looking forward to do well in the T20 series, and then move on and further capitalize on what we have achieved in this ODI series, against a very strong Indian team. We had some good outcomes – we are once again working as a team, every individual has started to understand their role and our confidence levels have gone up.”
India captain Mithali Raj: “We won the series but would have ideally liked a 3-0 score-line to garner maximum points since we had not lost to them in an ODI for five years.
“I thought we were close to doing that but Chamari produced a fine innings to take the final game away from us. It was a competitive match to cap the series and could have gone either way.
“Smriti (Mandhana), Jhulan (Goswami), Taniya (Bhatia), Mansi (Joshi) and I came up with some good performances during the series and we hope to build on our efforts as we aim to move up on the points table. The ICC Women’s Championship tests the depth of teams over a long run and the challenge is to be at your best all the time.”
Meanwhile, Raj has moved up three places in the MRF Tyres ICC Women’s ODI Player Rankings to fourth position among batters after scoring 177 runs in the series. Other batters to advance after the rankings update include Athapaththu (up 11 places to 10th), van Niekerk (up three places to 12th) and Dottin (up three places to 21st).
South Africa fast bowler Marizanne Kapp has gained one slot to reach third position, India’s experienced new-ball bowler Goswami has moved up one place to fifth position, Taylor has moved up one place to eighth position while Sri Lanka off-spinner Shashikala Siriwardene has advanced three places to reach ninth position.
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