West Indies Ready for New Zealand Vs West Indies Opener in Southampton
West Indies Women begin new zealand vs west indies on Saturday at the Hampshire Bowl in Southampton, opening their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup against the defending champions at 1:30 PM AST. The Group 1 match launches a campaign that runs through New Zealand, England, Sri Lanka, Ireland and Scotland.
Deitz on New Zealand
Shane Deitz said the visitors are ready for the test and treated New Zealand as a level opponent rather than a side to be feared. “It doesn’t really matter who we’re playing against. Obviously, New Zealand is a good team and they’re defending champions. It was a great game that we had against them in Dubai two years ago, and if a few things had gone our way we probably would have gotten the better of them, but I think we’re two pretty evenly matched teams.”
He added that the start matters because the tournament opens with one game, not a reset button. “It’s important to get off to a good start so it’s a really important game and I think we’re ready for it. The girls have had a lot of preparation, and I think we’re at that stage where we’re just ready to go.”
Matthews and the build-up
Hayley Matthews said the squad has the base it wants after a conditioning and acclimatisation camp in Wales, warm-up fixtures against India and Australia, and dominant victories over Ireland and Pakistan to win the Evara Women’s International Tri-Series in Ireland. “As a team, we are pretty prepared for the tournament. World Cups are usually where we as West Indian sides bring out our best performances so hopefully that's something we can replicate,” she said.
Matthews also pointed to the opener as the first pressure point of the campaign. “The first game against New Zealand is obviously going to be pretty important because it's a big team, but at the same time in a World Cup we're going to have to prepare for every single match. It's about taking it one game at a time. Everybody's pretty excited for the start of it and hopefully we can begin on a really positive note when we do get out there in the first match.”
Southampton pitch
Deitz expects the Hampshire Bowl surface to offer early help to bowlers because of recent rain and cold weather, adding another layer to a first match that already carries weight in Group 1. West Indies start the tournament with one of the toughest assignments in the group, and the result will shape how they move into the rest of their matches against England, Sri Lanka, Ireland and Scotland.
