En route to her century in the third
and final ODI of the recently
concluded Series against Pakistan,
her seventh overall, West Indies
Women’s captain Stephanie Taylor also
became just the third woman in history
to score 5,000 ODI career runs.
Currently at four in the International Cricket
Council’s Women’s ODI Batting rankings,
the now 30 year old Taylor reached the
prestigous milestone in the 133rd ODI
match she has played in West Indies
colours.
It has been a long journey for the
Jamaican-born Taylor who went on her
first cricket tour as a 10-year old. Though
also a talented footballer, she chose
cricket because she figured she “could
travel the world more by playing cricket
than football.”
West Indies Women
have been the major beneficiary
of that decision ever since she
emerged onto the international
scene as a 17-year old, hitting a
49-ball 90 on T20I debut against
Ireland in 2008. In 2013 she became
the only player in history, male or
female, to ever achieve the number
one ODI ranking in both batting
and bowling simultaneously.
Taylor, who has opened for West
Indies Women since she was
a teenager, is known for her
determined accumulation of
runs. At just 19, she became the
youngest woman to reach 1000
ODI runs. Then she smashed her
way to the third-highest total
in women’s ODIs when she hit 171
against Sri Lanka at the 2013 World
Cup.
In 2015, she took over as West Indies
Women captain from Merissa
Aguilleira, and left a mark in her
first assignment – she made 27, 49,
98* and 87* in an ODI series sweep
against Pakistan.
Her crowning glory
came in 2016 when she led West
Indies to the Women’s World T20
title; they beat three-time champions
Australia in a thrilling finale, with
Taylor making a crucial 59. She
finished the event as the leading runscorer,
with 246 runs. She also picked
up eight wickets and was named
Player of the Tournament.
Source: Cricinfo – Raf Nicholson