Deitz confident Windies will seal semi-final place

West Indies head coach Shane Deitz says his side is well placed to secure a place in the semi-finals of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup despite missing the chance to qualify early.

Speaking ahead of Saturday’s crucial Group Two clash with Ireland, Deitz said the regional team would have gladly accepted a winner-takes-all encounter for a semi-final berth before the tournament began.

Following Wednesday’s defeat to England, victory over Ireland will send the West Indies into the last four. Even with a loss, the regional side could still advance if England defeat New Zealand.

Despite the setback against England, Deitz remains confident the West Indies can finish the job and book their place in the semi-finals.

West Indies celebrate a wicket earlier in the competition. (Photo Credit: ICC MEDIA)

“We’ve got a chance to win one game to get into the semi-final and you can’t ask for much more than that, so the journey’s been great. 

“We’ve played some good cricket, but we’ve still got areas we need to improve on, and I think if we could play the perfect game, we’re gonna have a good chance of winning tomorrow (Saturday). Hopefully we can progress and then we’ll worry about playing the next game,” he said.

Ireland won the last game between the two sides in this format, which was played earlier this month, but West Indies have a far superior record, having won the previous four games. According to Deitz, qualifying for the World Cup semis would be a massive achievement.

“This has been a really tough World Cup. A lot of teams are competitive and in conditions that we’re not used to, so for us to make the semi-finals it’d be a massive achievement by the girls. All the staff have put a lot of hard work and prep into this, so, you know it’ll be just a great reward for the amount of blood, sweat and tears we’ve put into the last six months,” he said.

The head coach has also identified the team’s bowling as an area that needs significant improvement, moving forward. “I thought the England game we bowled pretty poorly and (in) the power play let them get away to a flyer. We need to bowl much tighter in that power play and try to get ahead of the game and then control the middle overs a bit more with our spinners.”

Deitz continued, “In particular, we really gotta start well with the ball and make sure we get on top. Getting a couple of early wickets in the power play is really crucial in these conditions, because once the team gets away they’re hard to pull back. That’s probably the biggest area we need to improve on for tomorrow.“

(KH)