Dhaka, Bangladesh — There is great expectation among the members of the West Indies Women’s Team as they prepare for their fourth round International Cricket Council World Cup 2013 qualifier against Bangladesh.
The Windies, under the leadership of wicket-keeper Merissa Aguillera, will be looking to make it four wins out of four when they face the home team at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.
First ball in the 50-over contest is 9 am (11 pm Saturday Eastern Caribbean Time/10 pm Jamaica Time). A large and lively home crowd is expected for the match but Aguillera said that won’t be a major problem for her players.
“It is a challenge playing any team on their home turf. They will obviously have home advantage but we will look to impose ourselves on them. We are a focussed team and I don’t think the crowd will get into our heads and distract us. Bangladesh have a good side but I believe we have what it takes to beat them,” said the 25-year-old skipper, who is preparing for her 40th One-Day International.
”We can expect the pitch to take spin based on what we have been seeing so far in the matches played there. We will look to keep steady heads when we bat. Our bowling has been good in every match so we will expect more of the same.”
The West Indies have been the most impressive team in the tournament so far with three big wins. They opened with a massive 213-run victory over Ireland; then whipped Pakistan by eight wickets, and on Friday bowled out Japan for 71 to win by 10 wickets.
Stafanie Taylor, the ICC Women’s Player of the Year 2011, has been in superb form with 107 and 66 not out in her two trips to the crease. She took five wickets against Japan to dominate the newcomers. Opener Juliana Nero made a blazing 100 in a double-century opening stand with Taylor against Ireland, while ace off-spinner Anisa Mohammed took 5-26 to restrict Pakistan.
“The conditions are not bad at all. We are quite happy our main challenge was getting acclimatised at a short period. That was basically it but we are playing some good cricket and will look to continue,” Aguillera said.
The captain said the tournament will serve the players well as they look forward to ICC World T20 Tournament in Sri Lanka in September 2012 and the 2013 World Cup, slated for India.
“This is a great build-up to the World T20 next year and the World Cup the following year. These are the qualifiers for the World Cup but the atmosphere at all the grounds has been amazing. It feels like the World Cup itself. We have played some high-intensity games and we have set high standards.”
Aguillera added: “As a team we see this is the ideal preparation for the bigger assignments. We had an excellent camp in Barbados and since we arrived here we have transferred that into the matches. The coach always preaches team work and we are enjoying every minute of it. We are happy to get the experience here in Bangladesh and get a feel of the Asian conditions.”
Upcoming preliminary matches
Sunday, November 20: West Indies v Bangladesh
Play-off matches: November 22 to 25