A new chapter of women’s one-day international cricket gets underway in Harare on Thursday, as the West Indies Women take on Zimbabwe in the opening fixture of their six-point ICC Women’s Championship series, with the Caribbean side gunning for a fourth consecutive ODI victory.
West Indies head into the contest riding high on momentum, having secured three straight wins during their tour of Ireland back in July. That run of form has left them fifth in the latest ICC ODI rankings, a solid position as they push for automatic qualification to the next 50-over World Cup. The hosts, by contrast, enter the series searching for their first win in five consecutive ODI outings against Pakistan and New Zealand, and sit 10th in the global rankings. This series marks a key milestone for Zimbabwe, which is competing in its first year as a full member of the ICC Championship.
There have been several key changes to the West Indies squad ahead of the series. All-rounder Chinelle Henry has made a full recovery from the injury she sustained during the T20 World Cup in June and is available for selection, star all-rounder Deandra Dottin will miss the entire tour after being granted personal leave. Skipper Hayley Matthews will lead the side through the ODI leg of the tour before stepping away for the subsequent three-match T20 series to take planned leave.
In pre-series press comments, Matthews emphasized her squad’s excitement to return to international action in Zimbabwe, and warned against underestimating the growing host side. “I think all the girls are happy to be back and are looking forward to the series. Zimbabwe are obviously a growing team in their first year within the ICC championship, so I know they’re certainly going to be coming out hard and playing some really good cricket,” Matthews said. “They are certainly a side that we can’t underestimate, even though they’re pretty new. We’re still going to need to be playing really well to get the results we want.”
While a series win is the team’s immediate priority, Matthews highlighted that the six championship points on offer are critical to the side’s long-term goal of securing automatic World Cup qualification. A full series sweep would catapult West Indies into a far stronger qualifying position, putting them on track to lock in their spot with strong performances through the rest of 2024 and 2025. “The games here are going to be very important. I think when you look at where we are in the table, automatic qualification for that next World Cup will be very crucial for us. To try to come down here and be able to take all six points, that’s certainly the goal for us,” Matthews explained.
Matthews also noted that transitioning from the shorter T20 format, which her side has played extensively in recent months, to 50-over cricket should pose no major issues for the experienced squad. “It’s obviously a longer format. You’ve got a bit more time at the crease, so you probably need to be more consistent in areas with the ball. I feel like we’ve certainly played enough ODI cricket as a team that we understand what we want to do and the way we want to go about playing, even though we’ve been on the back of a lot of T20 cricket,” she added.
For Zimbabwe captain Josephine Nkomo, hosting the series is a momentous occasion, particularly with a young, hungry squad at her disposal. “We’ve got a bunch of youngsters and I’m super excited that I got the opportunity to lead them. What makes it more special is that it’s on home turf,” Nkomo said. The skipper framed her side’s goal simply: compete hard, play positive cricket, and prove that results can come down to performance, not reputation. “The goal is just to compete, just go out there, just be positive [because] at the end of the day, cricket is a game of bat and ball and not names or anything like that,” she explained.
Nkomo added that the team has had plenty of recent competitive game time, which she believes will help the side turn around its current winless streak and deliver an improved performance in front of home fans. She also made a public appeal for local supporters to turn out in force, noting that fan energy lifted the team during recent matches in Bulawayo. “I would really appreciate it if we could have people coming out to support us. When we played in Bulawayo, we had quite a number of fans turning up, and that was quite a good atmosphere for us, which made us just continue pushing and fighting till the last ball. If we could have some numbers coming through, that would be great,” Nkomo said.