‘There's never a doubt in the bowling department’ – Taylor
After the Windies put up a modest 107/7, South Africa had motored along to 48/1 in the 11th over. It looked all South Africa, but Deandra Dottin swung it around with the wicket of Lizelle Lee and a direct hit to run out Dane van Niekerk.
WI v SA: Full match highlights
Then Taylor took over, sending back Sune Luus, Mignon du Preez and Chloe Tryon in successive overs before dismissing Shabnim Ismail in her fourth over, which proved to be the last one of the game as Masabata Klaas and Tumi Sekhukhune were run out.
“I believe that drive … you know what, I'm going to take over this bowling and got a breakthrough,” said Taylor of her conversation with Dottin when she decided to start her spell.
With the match drifting away from the Windies, @stafanie07 brought herself into the attack and turned the match on its head. Career-best T20I figures of 4/12 sent the South Africans into a spin and the hosts to the top of the group 👊 #WT20 #WIvSA pic.twitter.com/E2GPsIegGa
— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) November 15, 2018
“There's never a doubt in the bowling department that if we put up 90 runs that we can't come and put up a good fight. And looking at how we played in Guyana and here, we do have a good bowling unit.”
The Windies have so far played two games and won both, but their batting has faltered on both occasions. Against Bangladesh, they scored 106/8 and now 107/7 against South Africa. The bowling has bailed them out.
Nissan POTD - Dottin's fast arm runs out van Niekerk
“We have been working hard in the nets and our game. I just believe it's all about application. We need to give ourselves some time to assess the wicket. I don't believe we are giving ourselves time,” explained Taylor.
“We're good batters that can clear the boundary at any time. I'm not worried about boundaries. I just believe our application just needs to get better.”
Absolute SCENES in Saint Lucia! 🎉 #WIvSA #WT20 #WatchThis pic.twitter.com/pkEurqVrrP
— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) November 15, 2018
One of the highlights of the Windies v South Africa game was the crowd support – the stadium in Gros Islet was packed, it was noisy, a proper festive atmosphere that drove van Niekerk to say after the game: “We didn't play against just the XI, we played against the whole crowd.”
“I think the crowd today was fantastic. I was really surprised to see that crowd when I look back at CPL [Caribbean Premier League], there wasn't that amount of people. And to see that amount of people that came out to watch our game, it's just fantastic. And the girls were loving it,” said Taylor.
WI v SA: The last South Africa wicket falls and the Windies celebrations begin
Though being defending champions has caused the expectations of the team to go up, Taylor is happy with the situation, and is gung-ho about winning every game.
“We want to top the zone, get that momentum going into the semis. I know it won't be easy. We still have a lot of work to do and we have tomorrow's training, and we just have to go out there, work on what we need to work on and come out fighting hard again [against Sri Lanka in the next game],” she promised.