Schutt favours seam over swing in Caribbean clashes

If the West Indies needed any extra reason to be wary of Megan Schutt as they looked ahead to last Thursday's opening one-day international in Antigua, they need only have caught a glimpse of a video that went viral on social media late last month.

The analyst-camera vision from a South Australia trial game showed the world's top-ranked bowler producing a stunning inswinger to bowl unsuspecting Queensland captain Kirby Short, who had deemed the delivery safe to leave.

Schutt then wasted no time making her presence felt in the opening ODI two days ago, trapping Natasha McLean lbw with the first delivery of the innings at Coolidge Cricket Ground.

It sparked a collapse of 4-23 and paved the way for an emphatic 178-run win for the Australians in what was their first ever ODI in the Caribbean, albeit against a West Indies team missing five frontline players.

"(A wicket first ball) happening in both innings, I'm not sure how many times that's happened but the first hit-out is usually an average one for me, so it was nice to start off well," Schutt said on Friday.

However the 26-year-old is not sure the footage of her swinging delivery in Brisbane is quite worth the hype it created, nor does she expect to extract the same sort of movement in the Caribbean.

"Kirby Short shouldn't be leaving me in the first place," Schutt laughed.

"It was pretty funny to be honest. It wasn't that far off a stock ball, I think the video just made it look better than it was.

"I don't think I'll get that sort of swing over here; in Brisbane it hoops around a bit but it's a bit different here.

"I'm not getting as much swing as I'd like here, but it means I make more use of the leg-cutters and things like that, so I've got to adjust my lines accordingly."

Schutt and her Australian teammates will seek a series-clinching win over the Windies, with the second ODI of the three-game series to be played at Antigua's Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Sunday from 9.30am local time (11.30pm AEST).

Despite their dominant performance in the series opener and the Windies' injury-depleted squad – the hosts were already missing four of their best XI before Kycia Knight suffered a back injury during Thursday's game and vice-captain Hayley Matthews was sent home for disciplinary reasons on the eve of the game – Schutt knows Australia cannot take anything for granted.

"Every game is important, (especially) now we have those championship points on the line it's incentive to play better cricket for the entire three games," she said.

"I think (the Windies will come out an improved team), but honestly they've got a fair few injuries so depth will be their challenge.

"They had another injury (to Knight) during the game yesterday so it's about replacing those players."

Fans in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea can stream the series live and free on cricket.com.au and the CA Live App, while fans elsewhere can watch on the West Indies Cricket YouTube channel.

CommBank Tour of the West Indies

Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Erin Burns, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Heather Graham, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham

West Indies ODI squad: Stafanie Taylor (c), Hayley Matthews (vc), Reniece Boyce, Afy Fletcher, Chinelle Henry, Shamilia Connell, Stacy Ann King, Natasha McLean, Kycia Knight, Kyshona Knight, Anisa Mohammed, Karishma Ramharack, Shabika Gajnabi

One-Day Internationals*
*ICC Women's Championship matches

September 5: First ODI, Australia won by 178 runs

September 8: Second ODI, Sir Viv Richards Ground, Antigua

September 11: Third ODI, Sir Viv Richards Ground, Antigua

Twenty20 Internationals

September 14: First T20I, Kensington Oval, Barbados

September 16: Second T20I, Kensington Oval, Barbados

September 18: Third T20I, Kensington Oval, Barbados