Deitz labels series win over Bangladesh valuable learning experience

BASSETERRE, St Kitts (CMC) — West Indies Women’s Head Coach Shane Deitz says his team’s dominance over Bangladesh Women in their just-concluded One-Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) series will serve them well as they head into the World Cup Qualifiers.West Indies Women defeated Bangladesh 2-1 in the ODI series before whitewashing them 3-0 in the T20Is, which ended on Friday with a convincing five-wicket win for the home side at Warner Park.They will face Bangladesh again in the qualifiers, along with Pakistan, Ireland, Scotland and Thailand, with only two teams qualifying for the 2025 World Cup to be held in India from August.Speaking during a post-match press conference on Friday, Deitz said the series had proved to be very educational for the Windies heading into the qualifiers.“It’s a real important tournament so it gives us a bit of a clue as to where we can use players for certain roles,” Deitz said.“It gives the players confidence to know that we will play Bangladesh in the qualifier, along with Pakistan and Thailand — a few teams that all play similar styles of cricket — so we know how we’re going to attack that cricket and that style of play.”Deitz said he was also pleased with the winning fashion in which his side had started 2025.“It’s going to be a big year so two wins under our belt to start the year is very promising, but [there’s] a lot of cricket to play this year,” he said.“We’ve still got to improve in certain areas, plus some players have to come back in the squad too, so it’s looking positive for 2025, for sure.”He said Friday’s victory was especially impressive, considering that several of the team’s senior players did not feature.“I thought with the ball it was really good, particularly [Jannillea] Glasgow who bowled really well up front and at the death, and the fielding was really good, so I’m happy the way we went about that,” he said.“With the bat, we had a few scary moments on the way and a few nervy moments, but we got over the line and it was good to see [Shabika] Gajnabi and Zaida [James] get us over the line, two young players who been around for a little bit, so it was good for them to step up and take a bit of responsibility...”He said he would now turn his attention to the upcoming regional women’s tournament, during which he expects the West Indies Women players to dominate.“We have the regionals now so I really want the players to dominate for their countries — get some hundreds, get big scores; bowlers bowl 10 overs and get four- or five-wicket hauls...to really dominate that tournament, and then we can go to the qualifiers with a bit of confidence, personal form, but a bit of confidence as a team as well,” Deitz said.