Deitz: We have to match Australia’s aggression

ARNOS VALE, St Vincent, Mar 17 (CMC):

West Indies Women's head coach, Shane Deitz, believes that if his troops are to be competitive in their T20I series against Australia they will have to match the visitors' intensity and aggression.

The two teams will clash in the first of three T20Is here on Thursday, with the number one ranked Aussies the overwhelming favourites to win the series.

It will be a tough ask for the sixth-ranked West Indies, who will be looking to rebound from their T20I and ODI series defeats to Sri Lanka earlier this month.

In 10 T20Is spanning three bilateral series between the two sides, the regional side has won just one match, while suffering nine defeats.

They were whitewashed 4-0 by the Aussies 'Down Under' in 2014 and were thrashed 3-0 at home in 2019.

Their solitary win came in 2023 on their tour of Australia when they defeated the home side by seven wickets in a high scoring affair in the second T20I, before eventually going on to lose that series 2-1.

Speaking after a training session on Monday night, Deitz said the Windies Women could not allow Australia to impose themselves on the game.

"I'm looking forward to a good contest. Obviously, it's the number one team in the world so it's great to test yourself against the best to see where we're at individually and collectively, so we're really looking forward to the contest.

" ... I think we will put on a good show. We're looking to really attack the Aussies because they'll come hard, so we're going to match that intensity and come hard right back," Deitz said.

"We have to match that intensity and the aggression that the Aussies will come at us. We have to match that and we can't be too complacent or too within ourselves. We have to express ourselves, show our skills and back ourselves against the very best ... which we didn't do very well against Sri Lanka, so we need to bounce back well and show everyone we're a good side and that everyone can back us.

"This series is important because it's a prep for the World Cup, which is in a few months' time. We've got these three T20Is, then we have a Tri-series against Pakistan and Ireland in Ireland, so we have to maximise these opportunities, work out some good combinations, play some good cricket and get some confidence in our roles that we're playing and different parts of the game," he added.