BRISBANE, Australia, CMC – Head coach Shane Deitz believes West Indies Women’s capitulation in the opening One-Day International against Australia Women will serve as a learning curve for the young side.
West Indies Women were bundled out for just 83 at Allan Border Field – their lowest-ever ODI total against the Aussies and their joint seventh-lowest.
Australia comfortably chased down the target to win by eight wickets and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
“Funny enough, I thought some of our actions were good. We sent some youngsters out to give them an opportunity, and they did their best,” said Deitz, in his first series with the Caribbean side after being appointed in July.
“They’re learning international cricket, so they’ve got a lot to learn, and, when you have a loss, it’s an excellent opportunity to learn more, so plenty of learnings to go on.
“We’ve got a few days between now and the next game, so [we have a] fair bit to do.
“I know the result looks terrible, but we’re here to learn, especially those youngsters.
“In these conditions against the world’s best, it is a perfect opportunity to learn great things, and next time they come here, we’ll be better prepared for these conditions with the younger players a bit older.”
West Indies Women were hampered by the loss of captain and leading batsman Hayley Matthews, who missed the game with a leg injury.
Her absence resulted in the teenage pair of Zaida James and Djenaba Joseph opening the batting, a partnership exploited by the Aussies as both perished cheaply. West Indies Women slipped to five runs for three wickets after being sent in.
Aaliyah Alleyne was the only one to pass 20, top-scoring with 35 from 39 deliveries before she was last out.
Deitz said he saw encouraging signs from a technical perspective despite the batting meltdown.
“Just the movement into the ball, we worked on some technical things with the bat and just getting into the ball more and committing to trying to take the opposition on,” said the Australian.
“It starts with your movement and thought processes, which I thought were good, so that was quite pleasing, and that’s what will hold us in good stead moving forward.”
Matthews was the leading scorer in the preceding Twenty20 series, scoring a hundred and two half-centuries to finish with 313 runs and top the aggregates on either side.
And Deitz said with the second ODI scheduled for Thursday in Melbourne, Matthews would be afforded the time to recover further.
“She’s in recovery mode at the moment,” he explained.
“She was reasonably close to playing today, but there are a few days between now and the next game, so it gives us more time to heal and let her try to be as close to a hundred percent as possible.
“It’s pretty tough if you’re trying to play on one leg. Mentally, you’re not right up for it. We’ll see how it goes [over the] next few days.”
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