Toss West Indies chose to bat vs England
West Indies, the 2016 champions, were beaten 5-0 in their T20I series against England in December and are without star allrounder Deandra Dottin after her surprise international retirement last year, with Matthews leading them through what she described as a “transition period”.
Taylor was carded to open the batting, while Zaida James, one of the stars of West Indies’ Under-19 World Cup campaign last month, won her second cap.
England captain, Heather Knight, too would also have batted first on a dry Boland Park track, but said it was “not the worst thing to have a look” and tailor their approach accordingly.
Alice Capsey, the 18-year-old who broke her collarbone in the Caribbean before Christmas, was fit to return at No. 3, while England went with three frontline spinners in Sophie Ecclestone, the ICC’s No. 1-ranked bowler, Charlie Dean and Sarah Glenn.
England: 1 Sophia Dunkley, 2 Danni Wyatt, 3 Alice Capsey, 4 Nat Sciver-Brunt, 5 Heather Knight (capt), 6 Amy Jones (wk), 7 Katherine Sciver-Brunt, 8 Sophie Ecclestone, 9 Charlie Dean, 10 Sarah Glenn, 11 Lauren Bell
West Indies: 1 Hayley Matthews (capt), 2 Rashada Williams (wk), 3 Shemaine Campbell, 4 Stafanie Taylor, 5 Shabika Gajnabi, 6 Chinelle Henry, 7 Chedean Nation, 8 Zaida James, 9 Afy Fletcher, 10 Shamilia Connell, 11 Shakera Selman
Alan Gardner is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo. @alanroderick
Source: ESPN Crickinfo