Dhaka, Bangladesh – West Indies allrounder Shanel Daley is ready for Thursday’s big match against Sri Lanka. The hardworking left-hander, who bats at the top of the order and bowls left-arm spin, is "eager and excited" as she and team-mates prepare for their semi-final in the ICC Women’s World Cup 2013 qualification tournament.
First ball on Thursday at the Khanshaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah is 9 am (11 pm Wednesday Eastern Caribbean Time/10 pm Jamaica Time).Both teams have already qualified for the World Cup, but the Windies will be looking to maintain their 100 percent record and gain a place in the Final. They won all their preliminary matches by big margins. In the opening match they trounced Ireland by 213 runs, then whipped Pakistan by eight wickets, got over Japan by 10 wickets and had a comfortable 80-run win over Bangladesh.
Speaking ahead the team’s training session on Wednesday, Daley said: "This is a very important match. This is the semi-final stage, the real business end of this tournament. We came here to qualify for the next World Cup but we also came here to win all our matches. We want to develop a winning habit.
"We have won all our matches so far and we have to win two more to lift the trophy. The girls are very much focussed on the job and we will be going out to make it five out of five against Sri Lanka," added Daley, who will make her 30th ODI appearance on Thursday.
The 22-year-old has bowled well so far on tour but the highlight was a well-crafted half-century which earned her the Player-of-the Match award in the last prelim against Bangladesh. She outlined that the week spent at the Sagicor High Performance Centre in Barbados ahead of the tournament helped her game.
"Before we came out here I worked with Roddy Estwick, the Bowling Coach at the Sagicor HPC, and he offered me some excellent advice. He taught me a few things and now I am giving the ball a lot more air and bowling a bit slower. It has been working for me on this trip and I believe I am a much better bowler," said Daley, whose father Aaron Daley was a Jamaica allrounder in the 1980s.
"My bowling has been very good and my economy rate has been really good. I got some runs in the last match and basically I’m playing according to what the team requires. I see myself as the kind of player the others can bat around."
West Indies Squad: Merissa Aguilleira (captain/wicket-keeper), Shermaine Campbelle, Britney Cooper, Shanel Daley, Deandra Dottin, Pearl Etienne, Stacy-Ann King, Kycia Knight (wicket-keeper), Anisa Mohammed, Subrina Munroe, Juliana Nero, Shaquana Quintyne, Shakera Selman, Stafanie Taylor.