‘She had a medical emergency’ – Hayley Matthews explains why Deandra Dottin passed out

West Indies womens team with Deandra Dottin (Photo Source: Philip Brown/Getty Images)

West Indies Women’s all-rounder Deandra Dottin suffered a ‘medical issue’ before the start of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup semi-final clash against Australia at the Oval on Tuesday, June 30.

Concerning scenes followed after the two teams had lined up for the national anthems, when Dottin was shown being carried off the pitch by her teammates after having passed out and taken to the medical room at the venue. The exact nature of her issue was not confirmed, but it was reported that Dottin spent around 30 minutes in the medical room before being escorted out in a wheelchair.

“I think it was a bit scary. She’s obviously a massive part of the team. To see her almost passing out during the national anthems was a bit scary. But she was able to come back and also play, that speaks to her character. I feel we wanted to get off to a good start and probably put Australia under a bit of pressure. We weren’t sure if she was coming out so we needed to take the game deep,” skipper Hayley Matthews later said at the presentation, as quoted by Cricinfo.

Despite the scare, Dottin appeared in the dug-out in the 14th over, and against all odds, she came out to bat at number eight in the 16th over. She scored a quickfire 26 off just 16 balls, including three fours in her final seven balls, as she took her team to 125 for 7 after a collapse in which they lost five wickets for just 26 runs.

“I just know she had a medical emergency at the moment, at the time. I think what’s really important is the way she was able to come back and come out. She showed a lot of heart and fight by playing the way she did after that happened. And it was obviously a bit worrying for us at the time. But at the same time, trying to put that behind us and go out there and get the job done,” Matthews said after the match at the press conference, via the aforementioned source.

Speaking of the match, Australia made light work of the 126-run target, reaching home with seven overs to spare. Beth Mooney scored an unbeaten 61 off 36 balls and was supported by Ashleigh Gardner, who scored an unbeaten 35 off 20 balls. The seven-wicket win means they await the winner of the clash between England and South Africa, scheduled for Thursday, July 2.

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