Deitz: West Indies ready to surprise in must-win England game 

Media release

West Indies head coach Shane Deitz has promised some surprises when they take on England in a must-win match on Tuesday.

The Caribbean side enter the final group stage contest of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 needing a win to move above South Africa into one of two semi-final spots in Group B.

England currently top the group with six points and the best net run rate, with South Africa just behind them also on six points, while the Windies have four but a better net run rate than the Proteas.

“I think like any game you just want to you want to start well with your bat or ball first,” the former Vanuatu international said.

“You just want to start well get on top and then try to control the game from there and not let the opposition back in, that's pretty much the basic game plan.

“I'm not going to give too much away. We've got a few surprises up our sleeves, so we'll keep that under lock and key for now.

“We've just got to start well and be ready – that's going to be the key for both sides - and then either keep the pressure on or if the opposition get a good start we've got to fight back quickly, get the momentum and control the game from there.”

The two teams last met in the 2023 edition of the tournament, with England winning by seven wickets and with 33 balls to spare on that occasion.

Sophie Ecclestone took three for 23 in that game on the way to topping the wicket-taking charts as England reached the semi-finals.

The left-arm spinner has picked up four wickets from three games so far in this World Cup and is making sure to enjoy herself out in the middle.

She said: “We had a conversation this morning about what the distractions are and I think that's we sometimes get a bit ahead of ourselves so I think it's about staying in the moment, staying present.

“I think a massive one personally for me to stay in the moment is that I just enjoy myself.

“I think you never know when your last game for England is going to be, as brutal as that is. I think it's going out on that pitch and enjoying yourself.

“We've got a great group around us, we all enjoy ourselves and we play our best cricket when we're all enjoying ourselves and staying present.”

England are unbeaten so far in the tournament while West Indies’ heavy defeat to South Africa in their opening game put them on the back foot.

Since then, they have defeat Scotland and Bangladesh to build nicely to a must-win game against the 2009 champions.

For Ecclestone, it is a chance to face the recently returned Deandra Dottin, her clubmate at both Lancashire Thunder and Manchester Originals.

She added: “I love going against the world's best and me and Deandra have great battles when we play against each other.

“We are people that want to get one up on each other because we play against each other so often and play in the same team with each other.

“I think it's very exciting. I'll be looking at how they go about their things but I'm not going to concentrate on them too much and go about the way I'm doing stuff.”

ENDS