Taylor lauds bowlers, but says batters need to apply themselves

GROS ISLET, St Lucia (CMC):

While conceding that her team's bowling department is quite potent, West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor wants her batters to show more application when they are at the crease.

For the second straight match, the West Indies' bowlers were forced to bail them out of trouble after they were limited to just 107 for seven in their 20 overs against South Africa on Wednesday.

In their opening match against Bangladesh, which they also won, the Windies only mustered 106 for eight from 20 overs.

And while Taylor has backed her bowlers, she said more was expected from their batters.

"Looking back in Guyana, our batting is not the best at the moment. And here, we are still in that position, and we struggle to reach to 107. I thought that in the middle there, Natasha [McClean] and Kycia [Knight] batted well. We needed that partnership, and I think the bowling performance topped it off.

"We said in our team meeting we've been working hard in the nets and our game. I just believe it's all about application, [and] we need to give ourselves some time to assess the wicket. I don't believe we are giving ourselves some time. 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," Taylor said during the post-match press conference following her team's victory over South Africa by 31 runs.

FAITH IN BOWLERS

While she declared that she was unsure whether there would be changes in the batting line-up, Taylor said she had great faith in her bowlers.

"I can't really say if we're going to have any changes [in the batting]. I think, going forward, that would be the decision of the coaches and I, and we'll see what happens," she said.

"It's a great feeling to have such talented girls, girls that have been working over the last few months, over the last few years, working on their game, working on their bowling. And 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."

Taylor said the team was now setting their sights on their crucial third-round match against Sri Lanka, where a win would put them through to the semi-finals.

"We want to win every game. We want to top the zone, get that momentum going into the semis. So I know it won't be easy. We still have a lot of work to do, and we have tomorrow's (Thursday) training, and we just have to go out there, work on what we need to work on and come out fighting hard again," Taylor said.

Wednesday's scores: West Indies: 107 for seven off 20 overs (Kycia Knight 32, Natasha McLean 28; Shabnim Ismail 3-12, Dane van Niekerk 2-8). South Africa: 76 off 18.4 overs (Marizanne Kapp 26, Lizelle Lee 24; Stafanie Taylor 4-12).