SYDNEY, Australia, CMC – West Indies Women’s head coach Shane Deitz was generally satisfied with the way his side played in their opening match on the Tour of Australia.
Though the Caribbean side failed to ease concerns about their batting, they still managed to complete a morale-boosting, four-wicket win against New South Wales Women in a Twenty20 practice match on Thursday.
West Indies Women were wobbling on eight for three in the third over, but Shemaine Campbelle led the way with 33 and their captain Hayley Matthews made 24 and they successfully chased 106 to win the match at Cricket Central located in the Sydney Olympic Park complex.
“It was good to get the first win on tour,” Deitz told CWI Media. “I think we’ve got a lot of areas we need to improve on, particularly the top order batting, but I think it’s just getting used to these pitches, which have extra pace and bounce in them compared to what the girls played on at the WCPL (Women’s Caribbean Premier League).
“Overall, it was their first outing, a bit rusty, but I think we played generally pretty good all-round, and it’s gonna put us in a good position to play on Sunday.” The visitors face hosts Australia Women in three Twenty20 Internationals tomorrow and Tuesday at North Sydney Oval in this city, and next Friday at Allan Border Field in Brisbane.
Deitz said he was excited about the positive manner in which the team finished off the match against NSW Women.
“It was great to see them close out the match like that and really express themselves as players and hit the ball,” he said. “That’s what we talked about. We want to play a very West Indian calypso attacking type of play, and those girls really showed it at the end, and Zaida (James), a young up and coming player, she bowled really well too I thought, so she had a great first game in Australia.” Campbelle and Matthews inched West Indies towards 50 with a stand of 36 before they were two of three wickets that fell in the span of 24 balls to leave the chase at the crossroads.
Aaliyah Alleyne, not out on 19, and James, not on 15, added 32 unbroken to get the visitors over the finish line with 13 balls remaining. Earlier, off-spinner Karishma Ramharack returned the flattering figures of three for 12 from three overs and the NSW Women could only muster 105 for nine from their allocation of 20 overs.
Matthews started a tidy all-round performance with two for seven from two overs, and pacer Alleyne took two for 13 from two overs.
Deitz said he expected the spinners to play a significant role for West Indies Women in the series against the Aussies.
“Our spinners bowled really well,” he said. “We are trying a few different things with them and their tactics and what they’re doing the ball, so they did really well and took on board what we suggested, and they produced it in the middle. They were really good, so I think they are going to be probably a key factor for us.”