As the West Indies Women’s hopes of qualifying for the 2025 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup hang by the thinnest of threads, head coach Shane Deitz says the team is now playing for pride and praying for a miracle.
Deitz admitted the regional side had underperformed and disappointed fans across the Caribbean as he spoke candidly after Monday’s 65-run defeat to hosts Pakistan in their third match of the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifiers. The result, their second loss of the tournament following a shock defeat to Scotland in their opener, leaves West Indies languishing in fourth place with just two points and two must-win games remaining.
“Obviously, now we have to recover. We’ve got two big games to come; train well over the next few days and come out fighting hard. Cricket is a funny game; anything can happen. But right now, we’re just focused on finishing well, playing some really good cricket, and giving our fans something to cheer about," Deitz said.
Pakistan posted a modest 191 on Monday, but the West Indies, plagued by another batting collapse, were dismissed for 126. Aaliyah Alleyne (22), Shabika Gajnabi (21), and Jannillea Glasgow (18) offered brief resistance, but no partnerships of substance materialized, once again exposing the team’s frailties in the middle order.
Pakistan now lead the standings with six points, followed by Bangladesh and Scotland on four each. Only the top two teams will earn automatic berths to the World Cup in India later this year. As such, the West Indies, with matches remaining against Bangladesh (Wednesday) and Thailand, need a miracle and favourable results elsewhere to stay alive.
Despite the bleak outlook, Deitz is by no means throwing in the towel just yet.
"We’ve let ourselves down, and we’ve let the fans in the Caribbean down—that’s really disappointing. But we’re going to fight back. The only way to do that is to regroup, train hard, and stick together as a team. Hopefully a few things go our way, and something special happens. A miracle maybe, but right now, we just need to focus on playing better ODI cricket," he declared.
Deitz was quick to point out that West Indies’ current position is the result of deeper issues that predate the tournament.
"We're in this position at this tournament because we haven't played good cricket over this last cycle of ODI cricket for about three or four years. And that's something we've got to really improve on and look at and review after this and be better going into the next cycle of the championship for the next World Cup," the Australian stated.
Still, the coach found one silver lining from Monday’s performance, which was the team’s improved showing in the field. The bowlers, led by Captain Hayley Matthews (2-30), Afy Fletcher (2-39), and Karishma Ramharack (2-55), held Pakistan to a chaseable total on a sweltering 40-degree day. Ashmini Munisar, who has spent much of the past year on the bench, also stood out for Deitz, as she returned tidy figures of 1-29.
“We talked about being more resilient in the field, and the girls delivered. Obviously Ashmini Munisar hasn't played much cricket. She's been running drinks for about a year with us, and she bowled brilliantly. So it shows our skill levels there. But we just got to be smarter in different periods of the game, read the game better, have better plans, and be able to do that for longer," Deitz noted.
The West Indies will face Bangladesh next in a fixture that could determine the fate of their World Cup campaign. The match is set for 11:30 p.m. Jamaica time on Wednesday.