MUMBAI, India, CMC – West Indies Women are determined to break their semi-final jinx when they clash with New Zealand Women in the second semi-final of the Twenty20 World Cup at Wankhede Stadium here today.
The Caribbean side has never reached a T20 World Cup final, having fallen at the final four at each of the last three events, and captain Stafanie Taylor believes her side is poised to finally get over this mental hurdle.
“Today in training I actually said at the meeting that I think this in the fourth time that we will be in the semi-finals and this time around it’s not actually against Australia so I think maybe that’s a plus for us,” Taylor told a media conference here yesterday.
“But we definitely want to cross this barrier. We’ve been here too many times not to know how to approach it and today at training the vibes there were fantastic and that’s what I want to see going into tomorrow’s game so we just hope we can put our best foot forward and go out there hard.”
After missing out on the knockout rounds of the inaugural Women’s T20 World Cup in 2009, West Indies Women reached the final four the following year in the Caribbean, only to lose New Zealand Women.
In 2012, they went out to Australia Women when the tournament was hosted in Sri Lanka and were beaten against by the Aussies two years later in Bangladesh.
This time around, the Windies Women have a special belief which has been further bolstered by the success of the Under-19 West Indies team at the ICC Youth World Cup in Bangladesh earlier this year.
“We’ve been talking about since the time the Under-19s won the tournament. It’s more like an inspiration for us,” Taylor noted.
“We know that we came close in the past and this is like more drive to actually go out there and do the job and to see that both men or in the semi-final, and playing at the same ground I think that’s fantastic. We definitely just want to go out there and do our best.”
She added: “On Twitter and Facebook, it’s just blowing up to know that both of us are actually in the semi-finals. Everybody is just behind us a hundred per cent and giving us good feedback.
“It’s about us going out there and actually doing it. I think it’s a mental thing tomorrow … they say 75 per cent of the game is played there (mind) and I think it’s on that day who is actually more composed. If we try to do that, we can pull this off.”
West Indies Women have been impressive, losing just one game en route to the semi-finals. While their batting has been dodgy, it has been their bowling which has been key to their success.
In their opening game against Pakistan Women, they managed to defend 103 and win by four runs and against England Women, they nearly defended 108, losing off the last ball of the game.
Taylor said she was backing her bowlers to put in another quality effort today.
“I’m pretty much confident in my bowling attack,” the Jamaican said.
“When I look at the bowling attack that I have, it may be one of the best bowling attacks in this tournament. Any total we post on the board, my bowlers can actually defend that.”
Taylor, meanwhile, has been the most consistent batsman with scores of 40, 40, 35 and 47 at the top of the order, while those around her have struggled.
SQUADS:
NEW ZEALAND WOMEN – Suzie Bates (captain), Sophie Devine, Erin Bermingham, Leigh Kasperek, Felicity Leydon-Davis, Sara Mcglashan, Katey Martin, Thamsyn Newton, Morna Nielsen, Katie Perkins, Anna Peterson, Rachel Priest, Hannah Rowe, Amy Satterthwaite, Lea Tahuhu
WEST INDIES WOMEN – Stafanie Taylor (captain), Shakera Selman, Merissa Aguilleira, Shemaine Campbelle, Shamilia Connell, Britney Cooper, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Stacy-Ann King, Kycia Knight, Kyshona Knight, Hayley Matthews, Anisa Mohammed, Shaquana Quintyne, Tremayne Smartt.
