
Qiana Joseph - From understudy to floater to opening sensation

You'd rarely receive a fist-bump from the captain as a set batter dismissed, but Hayley Matthews knew this knock from Qiana Joseph deserved every praise and then some more. With an attacking 52 upfront to set the tone for West Indies' authoritative chase of England's 141/7 in a winners-take-all last Group B game in Dubai, Joseph had done more than what her captain, and team, asked of. And in the process, sent a shell-shocked England crashing out of the T20 World Cup 2024 to end a six-year drought.
The last time West Indies beat England in the shortest format was way back in the 2018 home World Cup where Matthews didn't contribute more than a solitary run to the chase and Joseph was a teenager carrying drinks in one of her initial assignments with the then defending champions. Despite having endured 13 consecutive defeats since, West Indies came into the contest with belief and fight. The belief was reflected in Joseph's readiness to get the chase underway even though Mathews, now her captain, thought there was something off at the halfway mark.
England's recovery through the ever-reliable Nat Sciver-Brunt's half-century meant West Indies were staring at a record chase this World Cup edition to progress to the semis. But Joseph assured her captain in the changeroom, before walking out to open with her, that she's "just ready". When Mattews ominously short-arm jabbed the pull for a six second ball of the chase, in a 14-run opening over off Lauren Bell, England took notice. What hit them out of the blue though was a young Joseph's audacity at the other end, forewarning that West Indies meant business. England perhaps never recovered from the shock.
Through the first-three years at the highest level, Joseph's chances had been few and far between. In her eight T20I innings prior to the Tuesday's heroics, the allrounder had gone from starting out as a lower-order slogger - albeit without much success - to being West Indies' newest opening option in Karachi earlier this year in the 4-1 series win. Upon seeing marked improvement in her power-hitting abilities, Joseph emerged as an ideal floater option in the line-up and was first deployed as one in the 2-1 series win in Sri Lanka. Joseph had moulded herself into the role before the opening opportunity presented itself in the World Cup opener against South Africa two weeks ago. However, the 14-ball struggle for just four runs was hardly how West Indies hoped it'd go.
"The first game was probably pretty tough on her. And we did drop her right down the order, deciding to use her as a floater at that point. If we lost the wicket in the first few overs, let her go to have a go in the power play. We probably then didn't need it against Scotland or Bangladesh, but look, she's a fighter and she wants to do whatever the team needs. She's always up to do whatever the team needs. So, we could tell her, open the batting, we could tell her bat at five. She'll do what the team needs and just be up for the fight every single time.
"It's great to have characters like that within the dressing room, especially as a West Indies-based team who are probably always underdogs. We need fighters within the team. And she's a great example of that."
Joseph slid back into the floater's role the next couple of games, but with senior opener Stafanie Taylor missing out against England through injury, Joseph was handed a promotion she showed she was so ready for.
In her 38-ball 52, Joseph showcased both the inherent Caribbean flair and fight. It was a streaky start that saw the inside-edge fly past gully and into the vacant third man region for Joseph to get off the mark with a four. One delivery later, Sophia Dunkley made a hash of a reverse-cup catch that allowed for another boundary. Twice in her knock the ball similarly burst through Maia Bouchier's hands resulting in freebies. Put under pressure early by a blazing start, Sciver-Brunt - standing-in for injured Heather Knight - summoned her spinners early, who kept tossing it outside off and the batter kept hacking everything across the line.
Joseph swung her bat liberally throughout her stay and, with luck shining on her tonight, kept connecting most of the times to put on West Indies' best PowerPlay score of the tournament - 67/0 - as she matched Matthews shot for shot. Once the field spread out, the frequency of boundaries thinned out but the left-hander comfortably went on to outscore her partner to a 34-ball fifty in the 11th over and raised a 68-ball century stand to completely knock the wind out of the English sails.

Sciver-Brunt brought an end to the fireworks - half a dozen fours and two slogged over the ropes for maximum - but Joseph had done her part in providing West Indies the solid base to cushion the blow of quick wickets. The opener scored 18 off the 13 balls off the pacers, but truly dented the morale of the spin attack by taking Charle Dean to the cleaners. In what could have been otherwise a risky match-up for the left-hander, Joseph smacked 15 runs off the six balls she faced from the offspinner, at a strike-rate of 250.
Aided