ICC Women's World T20 2016: Chris Gayle is hard to find, claims West Indies women's skipper

IANS
Stafanie Taylor
West Indies women’s team captain Stafanie Taylor

West Indies women's Twenty20 skipper Stafanie Taylor has said that the team interacts mostly with men's team captain Darren Sammy as swashbuckling batsman Chris Gayle is hard to find.

The West Indies face New Zealand in the second semi-final of the Women's World Twenty20 tournament at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday.

The West Indies have lost only one match against England but have outclassed Pakistan, Bangladesh and India to make it to the last-four stage.

"Chris Gayle is a hard guy to find...more likely would be Darren Sammy, he loves to talk, he would go on and on. He is a fantastic guy, we love to interact with him -- always positive, Darren Sammy more than Chris Gayle," Taylor said at the pre-match press conference here.

Taylor has been the most consistent performer for the Windies with 162 runs from four matches and she is placed in the third position in the top run-getters list.

"Well, I am pretty much confident in my bowling attack, I think when I look at the bowling attack that I have, (it) might be one of the best bowling attacks in this tournament. So any, I think any total that we post on the board, my bowlers could actually defend that," she said.

The Under-19 West Indies side clinched the 50-over World Cup in February this year and the 24-year-old hoped that the senior men's and women's teams can deliver the same in the ongoing tournament and make it a memorable year for the West Indies.

"I think we have been talking about it from (when) the Under-19 won the tournament, it's more like an inspiration for us. We know that we can close in the past and this is more like a drive -- to go there and actually do the job and see that both the men and women are actually in the semi-final and playing at the same ground, that is fantastic, we want to go out there and just do our best," she said.

On the other hand, New Zealand come into the match after winning all four matches comfortably in the group stages against Sri Lanka, Ireland, Australia and South Africa.

The side will rely on in-form batsman and captain Suzie Bates, who has led from the front with the bat, and currently sits at the top of the run-getters list with 171 runs in four matches.

Suzie thanked recently-retired Black Caps iconic batsman Brendon McCullum for his inspiring words for the women's team.

"Brendon is always ready to speak about cricket. A number of girls at the New Zealand cricket awards spoke to him briefly. His career and his run during the 2015 World Cup was inspiring for the girls. We have drawn up inspiration from Brendon," Suzie said.

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