12 March - Hamilton - West Indies Captain Stafanie Taylor post-match press conference
Reporter: One of those things that did not go in the way of India in the last game was facing spinners in the power play early on, with two left handers at the top. Is that something that looking back – West Indies missed doing especially with the way Yastika and Smriti were batting in the power play today?
Stafanie: Well I don't think – probably they – on pacers we had Hayley Matthews who came in and kind of you know, bring back the run rate - So I thought she did well in that area -
Reporter: My question for you is that what was Deandra Dottin’s early blitz in the first 12 overs when West Indies got the 100 - What was the mood in the camp like about the target?
Stafanie: It was always positive. I thought - the way the openers went and batted was really good. I just thought that batters just didn't capitalize on the start, and they fell down.
Reporter: I had a couple of questions. Firstly. What's Deandra Dottin’s fitness status like? Because she seemed to be struggling a fair bit in the second innings and what are your thoughts on your form currently because you've not really gotten to play a lot of deliveries in any of your three innings so far.
Stafanie: Deandra’s fitness is quite fine. Just repeat the last one I didn't get the last -
Reporter: Your thoughts on your form in the tournament so far? Because you've not faced a lot of deliveries in any of the three matches that you've batted in so far.
Stafanie: It's not something that I'm worried about. Yes, I know that my form is a bit down and I think it happens to the best of players. I think for me, it's just probably going back to have a look at a couple of footage and keep reminding myself that - I'm good enough to get out of anywhere - so right now I'm just trying to stay positive. I think the team is doing well. Today was probably just one of those days. But I'm trying not to pressure myself too much because I don't have the form that I would like.
Reporter: Did India's batting surprise you and your bowling unit by any chance? Would you say that or were you expecting this sort of performance from their unit?
Stafanie: I'm going to be honest, yes. they did surprise me and I probably think they surprised all of us really - The way they went out today is almost like they had -well they had a plan. And you know right away I figured that, yes, they had a plan. I thought they stick to their plan and it worked. Like their batters did well, they got two hundreds and yeah, with the ball we just didn’t execute.
Reporter: So just given the momentum that you had at the start of the tournament and this kind of 150 run defeat. How do you bounce back from this? What do you tell your team going forward?
Stafanie: It happens in any game. You have one of those days - you have one of those bad days. You brush it off and move on to the next one. We have no time to sit down and cry about this game. We have a big game coming up against Australia. I think what we can take from this - some learning and hopefully whatever we could take from this going into that game to help us
Reporter: My question is - in hindsight, what would you have told your bowlers to do differently during that 184-run record partnership? You know, having shared the dressing room, having played alongside Smriti, Harman both? What would have been your - in hindsight?
Stafanie: Looking back - probably bowl two sides of the wicket - and if I should, well, I guess when we go into it - have a look at the footage but I feel like we just didn't bowl to one side and stick to that. So we were kind of all over. So a quick turn around and…
Reporter: My question is that you conceded a lot of runs today - do you think conditions were favorable for the batsmen or you missed the calculation regarding your bowling side? That's why you're given a lot of chances or a lot of runs.
Stafanie: I thought the way they batted – they batted really well. As I said they had a plan and obviously they would have played on the pitch and known the conditions there about how they would win the game. I think still we didn’t execute as how we would like. So I think as bowlers we have to put up our hand - but they batted well though, but I find that we probably give away this -
Reporter: Yeah, my question is to the skipper - that how you keep the team going on with the less preparation times and during the COVID protocols? Like what activities you do to keep the team strong and united together?
Stafanie: Well we're not in a bubble, and people could definitely go out and have a walk and have dinner and yeah, sometimes we need - we do have a team bonding where we could do like scavenger hunt and stuff like that to keep - the good thing is we're not in a bubble. So people are free to go out and have a walk or have a coffee or have dinner. So that's a case where people are locked in a hotel.
Reporter: Can you tell us a bit about what you made of Deandra Dottin’s resilience during the early stages of the chase because she was clearly battling some physical issues. What does it say of her character? What does it say of one of the senior most players in your team and probably one of the brains you often go to for leadership help as well perhaps.
Stafanie: Yeah Deandra is one of those players and she's an aggressive player. She likes to play her shots and that's just how she plays. Chasing 300 runs you definitely needed that start, and I thought the way both of them went and batted - that's what we needed. We just didn't capitalize on it in the middle.