West Indies winning their maiden ICC Women's World Twenty20 title doesn't just bode well for women's cricket, but for the country as well given the cricketers' struggle with turmoil-filled West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).
Despite all the chaos, both the men's and women's teams have managed to keep their focus on the cricket - making the finals of the ongoing World T20. Stafanie Taylor, the West Indian captain, brushed aside the question with the same finesse that she did to the loose balls while on the field on Sunday (April 3) after guiding her side to their maiden title.
"We don't really get too caught up in what's happening," said Taylor. "We try and keep our focus on cricket. It's what we're here to do. We can't control what's going on there, so we don't focus on that. The bigger picture was making the final and winning it."
Hayley Matthews and Taylor made a daunting chase of 149 look simple with their straightforward approach of negotiating the good deliveries by rotating the strike and punishing the bad ones and making maximum gains. Thanks to their approach, the West Indies Women were able to chase down the highest total in a WT20 final.
"We never really discussed the total. We didn't get the start we wanted; scored just about nine runs in the first three overs, but it was good to keep wickets in hand. We just kept thinking that we could do this if we stayed in the middle and batted through the innings."
The pair shared a solid 120-run stand for the opening wicket and, together, took West Indies as close to the winning target as they could get. Britney Cooper and Deandra Dottin then took the side across the line with three balls to spare, with the Eden Gardens in Kolkata erupting into raucous applause.
"It was good to see the crowd today. There were a lot of West Indies fans and (it) was fantastic to see them cheering and shouting. They were behind us and were supporting us, which helped us to go forward. Britney Cooper was fantastic in the semifinal. Today, we had Hayley Matthews. We have players who can do it, but they just need to come out of their shells and be consistent. We need consistency and that's what we're trying to implement. We have to be consistent to compete with teams like England and Australia. It was good to see that we scored 143 the other day and chased down 148 today. It is fantastic to know that teams see that, and think, 'okay you have to score 160 to beat West Indies'," added Taylor.
While Matthews took on the role of the aggressor, Taylor was happy playing second fiddle as long as she kept the scoreboard ticking. Both scored half-centuries with their roles in the partnership apparent from their scores of 66 off 45 and 59 off 57 respectively. During their stand, they took apart the Australian bowlers with ease - something which sheds light on the impact of the inaugural edition of the Women's Big Bash League.
"The WBBL really helped us. Hayley is young and it was good for exposure for her to watch and learn. She's doing well right now. She has matured, which is evident in the way she played. Coming from Australia allowed me to know their bowlers a lot better and what they were coming out at me with. Working with some coaches there also helped me a lot in my batting. It also helped me with my patience and confidence.
"We need to move on from here, not just enjoy, but use this as a stepping stone to do great things. We don't want to stop here. We want to make sure that every time we play the T20 World Cup, we want to be in the final and compete," added Taylor.
The West Indian skipper was named Player of the tournament for her brilliant run of form with the bat. Playing the role of the anchor of the batting order, she scored 246 runs at an average of 41 along with eight wickets.
"I don't think it has sunk in as yet. We have a good feeling right now but it'll be special when it hits us. When we wake up in the morning, there'll be no cricket to play and when I see my trophy, I'm going to ask myself if this is real. When we touchdown in the Caribbean, that's when I think it will hit us. I know we're going to have a lot of people there and cameras and everything. That's when we're going to realise that we've won a World Cup," she beamed.
Despite all the chaos, both the men's and women's teams have managed to keep their focus on the cricket - making the finals of the ongoing World T20. Stafanie Taylor, the West Indian captain, brushed aside the question with the same finesse that she did to the loose balls while on the field on Sunday (April 3) after guiding her side to their maiden title.
"We don't really get too caught up in what's happening," said Taylor. "We try and keep our focus on cricket. It's what we're here to do. We can't control what's going on there, so we don't focus on that. The bigger picture was making the final and winning it."
Hayley Matthews and Taylor made a daunting chase of 149 look simple with their straightforward approach of negotiating the good deliveries by rotating the strike and punishing the bad ones and making maximum gains. Thanks to their approach, the West Indies Women were able to chase down the highest total in a WT20 final.
"We never really discussed the total. We didn't get the start we wanted; scored just about nine runs in the first three overs, but it was good to keep wickets in hand. We just kept thinking that we could do this if we stayed in the middle and batted through the innings."
The pair shared a solid 120-run stand for the opening wicket and, together, took West Indies as close to the winning target as they could get. Britney Cooper and Deandra Dottin then took the side across the line with three balls to spare, with the Eden Gardens in Kolkata erupting into raucous applause.
"It was good to see the crowd today. There were a lot of West Indies fans and (it) was fantastic to see them cheering and shouting. They were behind us and were supporting us, which helped us to go forward. Britney Cooper was fantastic in the semifinal. Today, we had Hayley Matthews. We have players who can do it, but they just need to come out of their shells and be consistent. We need consistency and that's what we're trying to implement. We have to be consistent to compete with teams like England and Australia. It was good to see that we scored 143 the other day and chased down 148 today. It is fantastic to know that teams see that, and think, 'okay you have to score 160 to beat West Indies'," added Taylor.
While Matthews took on the role of the aggressor, Taylor was happy playing second fiddle as long as she kept the scoreboard ticking. Both scored half-centuries with their roles in the partnership apparent from their scores of 66 off 45 and 59 off 57 respectively. During their stand, they took apart the Australian bowlers with ease - something which sheds light on the impact of the inaugural edition of the Women's Big Bash League.
"The WBBL really helped us. Hayley is young and it was good for exposure for her to watch and learn. She's doing well right now. She has matured, which is evident in the way she played. Coming from Australia allowed me to know their bowlers a lot better and what they were coming out at me with. Working with some coaches there also helped me a lot in my batting. It also helped me with my patience and confidence.
"We need to move on from here, not just enjoy, but use this as a stepping stone to do great things. We don't want to stop here. We want to make sure that every time we play the T20 World Cup, we want to be in the final and compete," added Taylor.
The West Indian skipper was named Player of the tournament for her brilliant run of form with the bat. Playing the role of the anchor of the batting order, she scored 246 runs at an average of 41 along with eight wickets.
"I don't think it has sunk in as yet. We have a good feeling right now but it'll be special when it hits us. When we wake up in the morning, there'll be no cricket to play and when I see my trophy, I'm going to ask myself if this is real. When we touchdown in the Caribbean, that's when I think it will hit us. I know we're going to have a lot of people there and cameras and everything. That's when we're going to realise that we've won a World Cup," she beamed.
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