West Indies Women vs New Zealand Women, 4th Match, Group B, ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 - CommentaryWIW vs NZW, 4th Match, Group B, ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 - Commentary

No Stafanie Taylor, no Chinelle Henry, but no problem say the West Indies. After years of grind at the top level, Shemaine Campbelle has her moment in the sun, and what a moment it is. As for New Zealand - what was that all about? If ever there was a day to forget, it's this one. Not much room left for errors now for the defending champions as they face Sri Lanka next on Tuesday. That's all we have from this one. Until tomorrow, it's a goodbye from Sagar Chawla on behalf of Praveen Kumar and Raju Peethala.

Matthews (2/2): (On conversations with Shemaine Campbelle during their partnership) Yeah, I think I kept telling her, obviously we needed to get the run rate up, and she was trying so hard to go and sacrifice herself a bit more. And I think, obviously, it wasn’t working for her at one point, but we trusted her out there. We trusted her fully and knew that the longer she batted, the easier it would become. And I think one thing about her is that she’s got a lot of self-belief. And she certainly kept telling me that it’s going to come good eventually. So it was good to see her get one or two away, and we knew from there it was going to be a different gear. (On staying focused after a big win) Yeah, it’s obviously really exciting and I think everyone’s going to be high on vibes tonight. But at the same time, in a World Cup, you have to be on the ball every single match. We play Scotland next, and I certainly feel that you can’t take any team lightly in this World Cup. T20 cricket has gotten to a place where one or two players can take a game away from you. And we’re going to have to be right back on it when we come back for the next match. So obviously enjoy the celebrations and enjoy the vibes that we have, but make sure we don’t get complacent and know that we’re going to have to play really good cricket to beat Scotland as well.

Hayley Matthews | West Indies captain (1/2): (On restricting New Zealand and assessing the chase) Yes, I think we did a pretty good job of restricting to 160. We were able to peg them back at regular intervals with wickets. Yeah, it felt like it was a pretty good wicket to go on, but 160 was definitely chaseable. But I think when we went in with the bat, we were probably a bit behind the run rate versus where we wanted to be. But obviously the wickets in hand were super vital, super important. And having a set batter at the crease was, I think, very crucial. (On Shemaine Campbelle’s match-winning innings) And then for Shemaine to play the innings that she did was just fantastic. She’s obviously very emotional, as she should be, because she’s definitely someone who plays with a lot of heart and a lot of fight. And I think at one point throughout that innings, she was struggling quite a bit to get the ball hit. But I think she just stuck with it and fought with it and ended up on the score she did, which was pretty amazing to see. (On winning without Stafanie Taylor and Chinelle Henry) I think when people look at our West Indies women’s team, they sometimes see just a few names and a few players. So to be able to come out here as a group, have players like Aaliyah Alleyne step up like she did with the ball, Afy Fletcher obviously, but just a full contribution from the team definitely means a lot. And I think it will give us a lot of confidence going back into the rest of the games, knowing that when we do get them back within the squad, it just adds to what we can do. And if we can beat teams like this without the two of them, I think our potential is limitless. And there’s still a lot of work to do. This is just our first game in the tournament. (On her fitness after appearing to struggle physically) Yeah, my fitness is fine, just a bit of cramp, but all good. (On the availability of Chinelle Henry and Stafanie Taylor) Yeah, I think we’re monitoring it day by day at the moment. I don’t think they were too far off from being available today. So hopefully with a few more days, we can see them in the next match potentially. But certainly feels like they will be back out here soon.

Amelia Kerr | New Zealand captain: (On whether New Zealand’s total of 162 was competitive at the halfway stage) Yeah, I thought there were ebbs and flows throughout the innings, and I guess they kept pulling us back with wickets. But to get to 160, I thought if we bowl and field well, that we gave ourselves a really good chance of defending that. (On the dropped catches and missed opportunities in the field) It’s a tough day, and it’s a tough day to happen in a really important game for us at a World Cup. And, I guess our bowlers are creating the opportunities, but unfortunately, we weren’t taking them. And, there were too many chances, I guess, put down, and it hurt us a lot. (On whether conditions played any part in the fielding lapses) No, conditions are good. It’s, yeah, there was a bit of sun, I think, early on in the innings, but that’s not where any of the dropped catches were. And, yeah, no excuses, just really disappointing. (On the positives New Zealand can take from the match despite the defeat) I think we stayed in the game and we stayed in the fight, despite, I guess, dropping chances and not quite executing in the field. But I thought the way Campbell played, it was a brilliant innings. And her ball striking ability, especially in, I think, also the running between the wickets, the ability to turn ones into twos as well. They outran us and they outfielded us today. (On how she plans to lift the team after a disappointing opening defeat) I think one is acknowledging the performance today. There was still some really good stuff that we can take out of that game. I thought Maddie (Green) at the end, the way she finished with the bat, Jess and Rosemary with the ball as well. So you’ve got to take the positives, but we do have to have a look at what we didn’t do well. And we can be sad tonight, we can be disappointed, but then come tomorrow, we’ve got to turn up and be better and look forward because there’s still plenty of games to come.

Shemaine Campbelle | Player of the Match: (On her emotions after guiding West Indies to victory) I just want to go there and back myself. I talk to myself a lot, so I said I’m gonna do this for my team. And, tonight I came through and I did it. (On scoring her maiden T20 International half-century after a long international career) I mean, all I did is to just back my skills. I know I’m a kind of a caliber of player that I can go out and change the situation at times. But tonight I just go out and do that. And I talk to myself and tell myself that if I bat straight for the first 20 minutes, definitely that will be good for my team. (On her conversations with captain Hayley Matthews and the approach to the chase) Oh, you know, she’s a special kind of person. She always keep talking to me and when you come back, just keep believing in yourself and keep playing to your strength. And I think that’s what worked for me. (On her thoughts after hitting the winning runs) You know, I’m a believer and I know that God got me, and I always pray to him. So definitely, He got me and I love Lord Jesus so much. So I want to thank him for all the work that you have been doing for me and also my team. (On what the victory means for a team missing key players through injury) I mean, it’s a big thing for us. I mean, Stafanie and Chinelle is not there, but you know, we still get players that get put up there at that time. So I think that’s a plus for us.

21:52 Local Time, 20:52 GMT, 02:22 IST: What a result early on in the tournament! Much of the talk in the build-up was how Group A was the group of death, but West Indies have announced their presence in Group B, beating the defending champions in a thriller. It took an innings of a lifetime from 33-year-old Shemaine Campbelle who had never even struck a fifty before today in 154 T20Is. She came in after the run out of Qiana Joseph and struggled to get going at the start of her innings. But from 4 off 11 balls, she managed to raise the tempo, helped by a string of errors in the field from New Zealand who had an absolute shocker. A number of catches went down, stumpings were missed and runs were leaked. Take nothing away from Campbelle who was there to pounce. The way she took down Melie Kerr was particularly impressive. Here she is, talking to Ian Bishop, as she is named Player of the Match...

All fielders inside the ring now

Seven fielders in the ring now. Long-on and deep midwicket the only ones outside the circle

Devine handed the task of defending four in the final over. Sweeper cover, long-off, long-on and deep midwicket in place

A chat between the bowler and captain. Field is being moved around. Mair from round the wicket