Walsh sees the positives in series defeat by South Africa

West Indies Women’s head coach Courtney Walsh says he is pleased with what he has seen from his team, despite the ladies going down by six wickets to South Africa in the fourth One-Day International to surrender the series 2-1.

With regular captain StafanieTaylor and veteran batter Chedean Nation ruled out through injury, the West Indies could only manage to get 174 all out in 49.2 overs, despite 48 from Kycia Knight and 36 from Deandra Dottin.

Shabnim Ismail bagged four wickets for the South Africans who cruised to 175 for four in 39.5 overs, with Andrie Steyn top-scoring with 52 and captain Sune Luus getting 47.

Stand-in captain Anisa Mohammed bagged two wickets for 31 runs and is now on 299 international wickets.

Veteran spinner Afy Fletcher, playing in her first game since returning from maternity leave, picked up one wicket for 45 runs from 9.5 overs.

Despite the loss, Walsh said there were lots of positives heading into the World Cup in New Zealand in March.

“I was pleased with the depth in the bowling combination and the consistency shown in the batting. It was pleasing to see Deandra getting some runs and Kycia also getting back-to-back scores. What I would say is most pleasing is getting Afy back out on the park and getting some overs out of her,” said Walsh.

Things could have been a lot different for the regional side, had the first ODI not been abandoned because of rain, as the West Indies were well on course to winning that match. After coming out on top in the super over in Game Two, the West Indies could not maintain the momentum and South Africa claimed back-to-back victories in games three and four.

Dottin topped all batters in the series with 235 runs in four innings, with a top score of 150 not out. Pacer Shamilia Connell was the leading wicket-taker for the Windies, with seven wickets in the four matches.

Walsh is now hoping that two of his main injured batters will be fit and ready for the World Cup.

“I am very satisfied with the outing from the girls. Obviously, we are disappointed that we lost the series, but I am more disappointed with the injuries to both Stafanie (Taylor) and Chedean (Nation) and we wish them a speedy recovery. We have a long layoff and we are hoping that the time off will help the injured players to recover, and we can have them back at least 90-95 per cent fit,” he said.