Deitz sees room for improvement despite Windies Women’s perfect start

West Indies Women Head Coach Shane Deitz hailed his team’s ability to “find a way” after they recorded their third, consecutive victory at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s T20 World Cup, defeating Sri Lanka by five wickets to move within touching distance of a semi-final berth.
While pleased with the result, Deitz believes there is still room for improvement as the Caribbean side prepares for a crucial top-of-the-table clash against England on Wednesday, June 24.
“I thought we bowled pretty good. It was a good toss to win and we bowled okay,” Deitz said after Sunday’s match, “We fielded reasonably well. We probably should have batted a bit better, so there’s a bit of work to do there.”

West Indies produced another disciplined bowling display to dismiss Sri Lanka for 98 in 19.4 overs, with Hayley Matthews leading the way with figures of 3-15. Although Sri Lanka managed to build a small partnership in the middle overs, Deitz was satisfied with his team’s overall effort.
“We put the Sri Lankans under pressure, but they fought back pretty well with one little partnership in the middle. But I would have taken 98 at the start of the day every day of the week,” he said.

Despite the comfortable victory, Deitz acknowledged that his batters could have managed the chase more efficiently and stressed the importance of building a deep batting line-up capable of applying pressure through boundary scoring.

“It’s real important to have deep batting line-ups that can score boundaries throughout the innings,” he explained, “That’s what we’re trying to do, have hitters who can go in and hit boundaries, because when you hit those fours, that’s where the pressure is released.”

The Coach pointed out that timely boundaries helped his side avoid the pressure situations that have troubled other teams during the tournament.
“We could have been under pressure in the same situation as Pakistan were yesterday, but we got out of it. We move on to the next game, but we need to improve in a few areas.”
However, Deitz reserved special praise for his players’ resilience and determination, highlighting what has become the team’s defining characteristic throughout the competition.
“One thing that’s been our mantra throughout this whole World Cup is ‘find a way’. You’ve just got to find a way to win in any situation, and I’m proud of the girls. We’re really doing that well. That’s been a real positive for us,” he expressed.
The Head Coach also singled out veteran Captain Stafanie Taylor, who continued her impressive return to the side with another valuable contribution during the chase.
“She’s been on fire,” Deitz said, “She’s worked really hard over the last year, particularly on her T20 game and her strike rate. She was obviously disappointed to miss the first game, and before we came here, she was hitting the ball really well in Ireland too.”
Taylor’s experience and form have provided a major boost to the West Indies campaign after she missed the team’s opening match.
“We definitely missed her in that first game, but luckily she’s come back and played two really important knocks for us. She’s had a great strike rate, taken the opposition down, and she looks a million dollars.”
With the tournament entering its decisive phase, Deitz believes Taylor’s resurgence could prove crucial to West Indies’ ambitions.
“It’s great to have one of the all-time legends in form going into what’s the business end of the tournament. Hopefully, a couple of the other legends can step up in the next few games and give her a bit of a break.”
West Indies now turn their attention to England in what promises to be a pivotal encounter on June 24 at 13:30h. Victory would place the Caribbean side in a commanding position to secure a place in the semi-finals and continue their impressive World Cup campaign.