Stafanie Taylor again proved why she is rated as the best women’s cricketer in the world, producing another superb batting performance to guide the West Indies Women to a series-levelling victory over South Africa in the fifth and final One-Day International on Tuesday.
The 21-year-old made a top score of 76 off 93 balls – including four boundaries – as the West Indies made 177-8 off 50 overs. They then bowled out South Africa Women for 155 to win by 22 runs at Windsor Park. It was a great result for the Windies, who came back from 0-2 down to level the series with one match being washed out.
“I didn’t really feel any pressure today. I just went out and looked to dig in. It was a good pitch to bat on and I knew once I got in I could get a major score,” said Taylor, who won the Player-of-the-Match and Player-of-the-Series awards.
“That is not to say it was easy – I had to be watchful throughout. In the end it felt really good to win the match by a comfortable margin and level the series. We are delighted in our dressing room.”
Taylor added 117 for the second wicket with pint-sized Shemaine Campbell, who made a 47 off 64 balls including some classic off-side strokes.
“The wash-out hurt us. After we went 0-2 down in St Kitts we knew we had to bounce back. We came here to Dominica determined to win all three [matches]. We won the third match and had them under pressure in the fourth,” added Taylor, who is the Number 1 allrounder in the International Cricket Council’s One-Day rankings.
Earlier in the series, Taylor became the first West Indian woman to reach 2,000 runs in One-Day Internationals. This is another milestone in the career of the two-time ICC Women’s Cricketer-of-the-Year award winner.
“We came here today and did a great job to win the last match. In our eyes we won the series. To bounce back in this style says a lot about our team and the heart we have. This is great momentum going into the World Cup in India,” she said.
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