West Indies Women Beat Zimbabwe by 8 Wickets — Stafanie Taylor Seals the 3-0 Sweep

Stafanie Taylor has been playing international cricket for West Indies for nearly two decades, and on Wednesday in Harare she showed why she is still there. She bowled four overs for eight runs and took two wickets. Then she walked out with her side 19 for 1 and was still batting at the end, 64 not out from 39 balls.

Zimbabwe batted well, thanks largely to Kelis Ndhlovu. They made 142, a real total. West Indies chased it with three overs left. West Indies Women won by 8 wickets (with 18 balls remaining) and swept the T20I series 3-0.

When Zimbabwe were 60 for 2 at the drinks break and Ndhlovu was set, a total of 160 was possible. West Indies brought it back with control. Taylor had Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano stumped and Chiedza Dhururu lbw, and her four overs, including a maiden, went for eight. Shawnisha Hector and Chinelle Henry took a wicket each. Claxton went for 35 but took the wicket that mattered most, Ndhlovu caught by Hector in the 19th over, and bowled Michelle Mavunga two balls later.

The chase was close to perfect. Realeanna Grimmond hit three fours before Christine Mutasa bowled her in the third over. Claxton and Taylor then added 71 for the second wicket in nine overs, and West Indies were 76 for 1 at the drinks break, ahead of where Zimbabwe had been. Claxton made 38 from 37 with eight fours before Beloved Biza bowled her. Taylor and Jannillea Glasgow put on an unbroken 53 in five overs to finish it.

Zimbabwe will take more from this match than the scoreline suggests. Ndhlovu reached fifty from 36 balls and finished with 63 from 48, with six fours and three sixes. Beloved Biza gave the innings a quick start with four fours in her 21, and Christine Mutasa's 24 not out from 19 balls at the end lifted the total past 140. Biza and Mutasa then took the two West Indian wickets with the ball.

The problem was the middle overs. From 40 for 2 in the seventh over, Zimbabwe added 39 in the next six and a half as Dhururu's 9 took 20 balls. Against Taylor's control, the scoring stalled at the moment it needed to rise. With a little more urgency there, 142 could have been 160, and that would have been a real test.

Zimbabwe chose to bat at the Takashinga Sports Club. The pitch was good for batting, with both sides scoring at more than seven an over and two fifties in the match, and bowlers who took pace off the ball did best. Taylor's 4-1-8-2 was by far the best spell of the day; Ramharack and Claxton went for 71 in eight overs between them. West Indies' chase at 8.4 an over made clear that the target was below par.

Taylor reached fifty from 35 balls, with eight fours, and in a 39-ball innings she hit 11 fours and no sixes. She didn't need power. She found the gaps, ran hard and let the target come to her. Combined with her bowling — 4-1-8-2, a maiden in a T20 international — it was a complete performance from a player who has done this many times before.

Claxton was named Player of the Series, which is a good sign for West Indies: a younger player taking the lead while Taylor shows the way.

Our preview called West Indies Women clear favourites, and they won easily. We picked Karishma Ramharack as West Indies' player to watch after her 3 for 17 earlier in the series; this time she went wicketless for 36 in four overs, so that call missed. We named Modester Mupachikwa for Zimbabwe, but she does not appear on the batting card for this match. The player who delivered for Zimbabwe was Kelis Ndhlovu, whom we didn't highlight.

West Indies Women end the tour having won the ODI series 2-1 and the T20Is 3-0, every T20I by eight wickets. Different players stood up in different matches, which says a good deal about the depth in the squad.

For Zimbabwe, the ODI win in the series and Ndhlovu's 63 here are the things to build on. The gap in the T20Is was clear, but Wednesday showed Zimbabwe can post a competitive total against this attack.