Hamilton, March 21 (IANS) West Indies’ inconsistent display with the bat finally caught up with them in the eight-wicket defeat to Pakistan, head coach Courtney Walsh admitted.
Pakistan’s spinners strangled the West Indies batters as they were restricted to 89/7 in a match reduced to 20-overs-a-side because of rain. Pakistan chased down the target for the loss of two wickets to register their first victory in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup.
After the match, Walsh agreed that their batters’ inconsistency proved decisive.
“I honestly think we were struggling in all tournament. So I would agree. I think it’s finally caught up with us. We didn’t bat well enough today and at some stage, if you keep playing like that it will catch up with you,” said Walsh in the post-match virtual press conference on Monday.
Opener Sophie Devine scored a 128-ball 108 in their opening match against hosts New Zealand and the second match, Shemaine Campbelle (66), Chedean Nation (49*) while Hayley Matthews contributed 45 in their win against England.
In the next four matches, West Indies batters barely managed to take the score past 150 only in one match. Though West Indies won two of those matches and moved up to third in the standings, the defeats to India and Pakistan have now cast doubt over their chances of qualifying for the semi-finals.
“I think even from that first game, we don’t get consistent performances from our batters and you know in 50 over cricket you always talking about one batter batting right through, or two or three batters getting scores. And even that game Hayley got a hundred-second game if I’m not mistaken, I think Deandra got a score and one game the captain got a score another game Campbell got a score. So you haven’t been putting consistent performances together as a batting group,” he added.
Walsh said despite the inconsistent performance by the batters, the mood in the camp has been very good.
Asked how does the team picks up from here going into the last game against South Africa, Walsh said they will discuss that in a meeting.
“That would come from discussion. Probably not something I have noticed. We started late. We’ve got two days that we need to you know, sit down, have a chat and discuss how you’re going to go. One more game is still another World Cup game is still another international game. So you have to go in it with a positive mindset and look to win the game,” said Walsh.
–IANS
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