West Indies Women have defeated New Zealand and England in their first two matches in the ICC Women’s World Cup currently underway in New Zealand. They have done so without significant contributions with the bat from two of their big three – Captain Stafanie Taylor and Deandra Dottin.
In their opening match against the hosts on March 4, the West Indies scored 259-9 thanks mainly to Hayley Matthews’ sublime 119. However, Dottin who opened the innings with her, made only 12 while Taylor scored 30.
In the second match against England on March 9, Dottin made 31 and Taylor 0 as the West Indies made 225-6. In that match that the West Indies dramatically won by seven runs, it was Shemaine Campbelle’s 66 and Chedean Nation’s unbeaten 49 that spurred the West Indies to their winning total.
However, despite the relative lack of runs from two of the big three, head coach Courtney Walsh said he was not overly concerned about the misfiring duo expressing confidence that they will eventually come good.
“In the two games we have played we have gotten competitive scores. Obviously, you would want to see Stafanie firing and a Deandra firing but if they can fire at the right time for us while Hayley and the others are carrying the batting, then that is good, so I am not much perturbed, their chance will come and when it comes you want them to step up,” Walsh said during a media session on Wednesday.
“So it’s good when the likes of Campbelle and Nation can step up to the plate and prove their worth. I would like for Kycia Knight to get a decent score as well to give her some confidence. She came into the competition with some runs from the previous tour and in the warm-up games so I think she just needs a decent score to give her some confidence and if we can get that then the batting would be showing a lot more solidarity, but I am not overly concerned.”
What is troubling the fast-bowling great turned coach, however, is the number of catches the West Indies Women have put down in their two matches so far. As many as nine catches have been floored by the Caribbean women, some of which have proved costly.
Chinelle Henry dropped New Zealand middle-order batter Sophie Devine early in her innings and the player capitalized in the best possible way scoring 108. Henry eventually redeemed herself when she caught Devine off her own bowling to pave the way for the West Indies’ narrow three-run win.
Walsh admitted that the number of dropped catches was a worry.
“I am a little more concerned about the number of dropped catches because we can’t keep dropping so many catches, it might come back to haunt us and hurt us,” he said.
“We have taken some fantastic ones as well so we don’t want to write that off but I am a little more concerned about the catches we have been putting down. If it’s the conditions or we’re just not backing ourselves but I think the effort they have shown in yesterday’s game, even though we still put down a couple, it shows that they are still committed to trying to take these catches and I am happy with that.
“It might be a little bit cold on the fingers but we have to do what we have to do when we get out to play.”
(Sportsmax)
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