Shamilia Connell collapses on the field; incident helped West Indies 'regroup', says Stafanie Taylor
Written by I Dig Sports
Published in
Cricket
Thursday, 17 March 2022 23:12
Shamilia Connell, the West Indies quick, collapsed on the field during the 47th over of Bangladesh's chase. It needed the medical staff to ferry her out of the ground, even as play came to a halt for a while. It didn't make for happy viewing, and while her team-mates were understandably concerned, Stafanie Taylor, the captain, said "it was time for us to regroup".
At that point, the match was on a knife's edge with Bangladesh's last-wicket pair trying to eke out the 13 they needed off 19 balls. Details of Connell's health condition, and availability for the remainder of the World Cup, are awaited.
"A bit worrying seeing her going down like that. She is a fighter, not sure what is wrong with her but hopefully she is all right," said Hayley Matthews, the Player of the Match. "She is a strong girl and we're backing her to get well soon."
It was after the fifth ball of the 47th over that Connell, 29, collapsed while fielding at midwicket. Her team-mates rushed to her even as the medical staff were by her side quickly. After what looked like preliminary treatment, Connell managed to get up and get into the waiting ambulance on her own.Play resumed not long after, and Taylor sealed a final-over win for her team by picking up the last wicket.
"Hopefully she will pull through," Taylor said of Connell at the presentation. "It was sad to see her go down. But we need to look at the bright side - it was time for us to regroup, we came back and changed the momentum."
Connell bowled just three wicketless overs, which cost 15 runs, in the match.
Shamilia Connell
Stafanie Taylor
Hayley Matthews
West Indies Women
West Indies
WI Women vs Bdesh Wmn
ICC Women's World Cup