Campbell had never previously scored a T20I half-century in a 155-match career dating back to 2009, and he averaged 15 in the format before Saturday’s innings. However, he picked the ideal moment to make his muscular game worthwhile.
With the West Indies lacking the services of two of their established power-players, Stafanie Taylor and Chinelle Henry, Campbell hit seven fours and three sixes in her unbeaten 90 from 62 balls, before racing to the winning leg bye with a ball remaining in the match.
Emotions ran high afterwards, particularly when he was interviewed by fellow West Indian Ian Bishop in the post-match presentations, and Deitz said he was glad such a big moment had come to him so early in the competition.
“He’s the heart and soul of the team,” Deitz said. “She has a lot of passion and was very emotional at the end, but she is the heartbeat of the team, and has been for a long time.
“Her performances have probably not been what other people expected. She is under a bit of pressure, but we are with her, because we believe she is a great player and offers a lot.
“It’s not just about the stats, it’s about how you integrate into the team and how you are a leader on and off the field, and we’re very happy for her. She’s one of the best-loved players in the team, so it’s fantastic for her, and hopefully she can go on, have a great World Cup and win us some more games.
Deitz said, “When I took over (as coach in 2023), we analyzed what areas we needed to improve, and it was to hit more boundaries and get more of a power game, which is the West Indies DNA of playing cricket.” “So we’ll stick to that. We’ve talked about it a lot. We practice a lot of power-hitting, try to hit the ball hard, put the fielders under pressure, and go our own way sometimes, and that happened today.
“We’ve talked about more people contributing to be a player of the match,” Deitz said. “Obviously Hayley wins a lot of them, but that should be everyone’s goal. She did that today, and hopefully some other guys can do that and win some games for us.”
However, this alliance did not succeed this time, as Joseph became angry after being run out in the second over, leading to an intense exchange of views with her captain – and an apparent clash of shoulders – as she walked out of the crease.
Although Deitz said he admired the “fighting spirit” shown by the girls, he joked that he did not mean it literally. “I haven’t really talked to him about it,” he said. “I think there was one (run), and I think Kianna was looking at the ball when Hayley was trying to call it in. It happens in cricket, but I don’t think they’re punching or fighting. But if they do I’m supporting Kianna…”
That incident aside, West Indies’ running between the wickets was a notable aspect of their chase, with a regular diet of singles contributing to their success.
“We still have to be a little smarter,” Deitz said. “We ran well between the wickets today to put them under pressure, so it wasn’t just a power game. Overall in cricket, we did really well. We really pulled it back with the ball too, and they were probably 20 runs short, and then in the field I thought we were really good too.”
However, the same cannot be said for New Zealand. “We put a competitive score on the board and unfortunately our fielding let us down,” Maddy Green said. “It’s a really bad day at the office for the group, but we really have no choice but to move forward quickly, and obviously there are some things to address before the next game.”
Andrew Miller is the UK editor for ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket
