BlackFacts Details

West Indies Women hunt ODI clean sweep over Pakistan - Trinidad and Tobago Newsday

WEST INDIES Women's team are aiming to sweep hosts Pakistan 3-0 when the third and final One-Day International bowls off at the National Stadium in Karachi on Sunday.

So says veteran pacer Shamilia Connell, who bagged a haul of three wickets for 18 runs, in her team's second ODI win on Thursday.

The West Indies Women are chasing a clean sweep and hope to carry the same winning mentality into the November 21-December 5 ICC Women's World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe.

Connell, 29, made these remarks during Saturday's Cricket West Indies zoom media conference. She called on her teammates to maintain composure in the final ODI and finish the series with a morale-boosting victory.

'We're trying not to get complacent. We've been working hard leading up to this series. We don't want to get complacent after winning the series. We're looking to end it off with a clean sweep and go into the qualifiers (World Cup) with confidence.

'We're working very hard. The girls have been in the nets trying their best; going from strength to strength. We know we sometime we slack off in the last game so we're looking to close off the series with a win and a clean sweep against Pakistan at home,' she said.

In the first ODI on Monday, West Indies batted first and were led to 253/8 by Deandra Dottin's brilliant performance as she struck a career-high 132 runs (18 fours and two sixes) of 146 balls. The visitors went on to win by 45 runs.

Hayley Matthews also chipped in with 57 runs and then dismantled the Pakistani batting order by snagging 3/31 while Shakera Selman bagged 2/35.

In the second ODI, West Indies had a tough time building partnerships but still churned out a 37-run win with Dottin (34) again top scoring and Matthews (4/26) shining with the ball.

To ensure victory on Sunday, Connell believes the team must buckle down with the bat to produce a repeat performance from the first ODI.

Connell said, 'We have to back up the batting performance in the first ODI just to get back those scores up there so we can give the bowlers something to work with. We don't want to be scrambling again to give anybody any chances.

'We didn't get the start we wanted in the second game. So we just had to regroup. Going into the third ODI, we're looking to improve in all areas and continue building on that,' she added.

Connell said she has since seen maturity in the batting line-up and credited fellow Barbadians Matthews and Dottin for their inspirational displays. She added that life in the 'bubble' is tough and the players have stuck together, supporting one another en route to a potential clean sweep away from home.

The spinner confirmed the mood in the West Indies camp is good and they are eager to get going on Sunday and enter the World Cup qualifiers on a high.

Security in Pakistan, she said, has been good.

'The security and hospitality is very good. We've been heavily secured. The staff and everybody have given us their support.

'It's my second time here so I feel very safe. We were here in 2019 and the security has bee