GALLE, Sri Lanka (CMC) — Head coach Sherwin Campbell says the West Indies victory over New Zealand in their opening match of the ICC world Twenty/20 was the best performance he has ever witnessed by the team since they beat England in St Kitts just under three years ago.

West Indies defeated New Zealand by seven wickets yesterday to move to the top of the Group B table on a better net run-rate after South Africa also opened their campaign with a win.

“This is best I have seen us play since we beat England a few years ago… we bowled well, we took our catches, the ground fielding was good and we backed it up with sensible batting,” said Campbell.

“We wanted to make a statement from the very start of the tournament and the girls came out and did the business.”

Two years ago New Zealand ended West Indies’ dream of winning the tournament by beating them in the semi-finals.

However, this time around, led by the powerful batting of Deandra Dottin, who made a superb unbeaten half-century, and the class of Stafanie Taylor who scored 38 the windies easily chased down the target of 118.

“Before the match we said we would like to chase a score of around 120, and when we got them under that we knew we were in with a big chance of victory,” said Campbell.

“The outfield was fast so the batters were able to get good value for their strokes. The bowling was also very good and the fielding was actually beyond expectation. Anisa just keeps doing the job for us.”

Campbell, the former West Indies vice captain, has been at the helm of the West Indies Women’s programme for four years and has played a key role in the development of the players.

He said the most pleasing part of the match was the fact that the experienced players led from the front.

“To win a match batting last in any format of the game the top five have to make the bulk of the runs, and the girls showed great maturity and control under pressure today. Taylor gave us the ideal start with a calm approach and some excellent running between the wickets — she is a class act,” the coach said.

“Then Deandra came to the crease and did what she is capable of. She is young and still maturing. I don’t think we have seen the best of her yet.”

The West Indies will have a training session on Thursday before their second Group B match against Sri Lanka on Friday at Galle International Cricket Ground.