West Indies' Anisa Mohammad warns Australia, promises to spoil defending champ's party

Days ahead of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup, West Indies off-spinner Anisa Mohammed has warned the defending champions and hosts Australia. Mohammed who is the top wicket-taker in women’s T20I cricket said that she wants to "spoil the party" and "return the favour" to Australia after they were beaten by latter in the semi-finals in 2018 edition held in the Caribbean.

'So it would be nice to return the favour'

"We've come to win this World Cup and take it back from Australia. It would be nice to spoil the party. They spoiled ours, so it would be nice to return the favour," she told ICC. Speaking about Australia's performance in the recently concluded Tri-Series against England and India, she said, "Australia has been doing really well. They recently played in the tri-series and came out on top, but we've been working hard ourselves."

"The final in 2016 was a really special day. That was probably the biggest highlight of my career - winning a World Cup is something I'd love to do again. As a team, we know what it's like to win and what it's like to lose. Winning is definitely better, so we want to win this time. Australia are known as the top team in the world. All teams will be gunning to beat them," Mohammad said.

Australia whitewashed WI when the two teams met recently

Four years ago in India, West Indies got the better of Meg Lanning’s side in 2016 final at the Eden Gardens. Stafanie Taylor made 59, while Hayley Matthews who was named player of the match – took the wicket of Alyssa Healy and struck 66 off just 45 balls. Recently, the two sides met in a bilateral series in the Caribbean in September 2019, where Australia whitewashed the home side 3-0, both in the T20Is and the ODIs.

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At the 2020 edition, four-time champions and favourites Australia are in Group A, while West Indies are in Group B, along with England, Pakistan, South Africa and Thailand. The tournament begins on February 21 with the opening clash between hosts Australia and India in Sydney, followed by West Indies v Thailand on February 22.

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