Stafanie Taylor has called on West Indies to adapt their style if they are to convert their big-tournament T20 record into 50-over World Cup success.
West Indies lost to South Africa by 96 runs and six wickets after winning the Super Over in their tied second match of the ODI series immediately before travelling to New Zealand. They also suffered heavy defeats in both their warm-up matches, losing by 90 runs to Australia and 81 runs to India. On both occasions, West Indies never really threatened to pass the 200-mark with the bat and that was an area Taylor wanted her side to address in the lead-up to the opening match of the tournament against New Zealand at Mount Maunganui on Friday.
"We had our meeting and we said that to be competitive we have to be scoring over two hundred runs," Taylor said. "In the two games that we played we didn't do so. So that's something that we've had a look at and, moving forward, that's something that we need to work at."
West Indies won the T20 World Cup in 2016 but have only once featured in a 50-over World Cup final, losing to Australia in 2013. Taylor said that while some players found T20 cricket more enjoyable, it was crucial for the West Indies line-up to alter the tempo and dig in during the longer format.
"When it comes down to the longer format, we just need to spend more time out there in the middle," Taylor added. "That's an area that we've been falling down a lot in, rotating the strike and try to build more partnerships. We haven't been building a lot of partnerships so hence the reason why we keep falling down in that department."
Among the positives for West Indies' preparations, Shemaine Campbell and Hayley Matthews played measured innings for 63 and 44 respectively against India, while Taylor posted a similarly considered half-century against Australia. During the series in South Africa, West Indies had a number of contributors with the bat, including Kycia Knight, Deandra Dottin, Matthews, Chedean Nation and Chinelle Henry. Prior to that, they swept Pakistan 3-0 in Karachi.
"The other batters are starting to contribute," Taylor said. "What we need to do is be in that collective in each game, be consistent. That's something that I've talked about a lot, being consistent, not just one or two batters always performing and probably looking at how teams are playing, a lot more fifties, batters stepping up and taking that responsibility. As batters we have to do that more consistently."
New Zealand, meanwhile, are hitting peak form at the right time, following their 4-1 ODI series victory over India with a nine-wicket win against favourites Australia in a warm-up earlier this week. They were beaten by Pakistan in their other warm-up fixture. New Zealand's top three of Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine and Amelia Kerr are in excellent touch, with Kerr scoring 353 runs at an average of 117.66 in the series against India.
But Taylor said that whether the White Ferns would carry any added pressure into their match as tournament hosts was irrelevant.
"We don't talk about if they're under pressure," she said. "I think that's for them. We try to zone in on us and what we need to do to perform well."