CANBERRA, Australia (CMC) — West Indies Vice-Captain Anisa Mohammed has called for her batsmen to give more support to the bowlers in today’s Group B clash with Pakistan, after a tight tournament opener against minnows Thailand.

While the experienced Stafanie Taylor-led squad eventually came out on top in their encounter with the Women’s T20 World Cup debutants, their batting left much to be desired as they initially struggled while chasing down 79 for victory.

Even after the bowlers did a good job of restricting Thailand to 78 in their 20 overs, they lost three early wickets to slip to 27 in the seventh over. They recovered courtesy of an unbroken 53-run, third-wicket stand between their skipper and Shemaine Campbelle to reach their target in 16.4 overs.

Mohammed has challenged her side, which boasts more T20I caps in their squad than any other nation at the World Cup, to do better with the bat and put a big score on the board in their encounter here today at Manuka Oval.

“I think our batting just needs to improve a bit,” the world-class spinner said. “Our fielding and our bowling against Thailand was spot on — the seamers set the tone and as spinners, we enjoyed the bounce we got from the pitch. As a group we’ve had to fill in for Shakera [Selman] and we did that; she’s a big bowler and they are big shoes to fill.”

The Windies batting line-up has disappointed in the past. The Caribbean women have been dismissed in double figures five times since the last T20 World Cup and they were bowled out for 71 by Australia in their 2018 semi-final on home soil.

Mohammed warned that their next opponent in this year’s tournament should not be taken lightly.

The two sides faced each other in two warm-up matches in the weeks leading up to the World Cup and in an entertaining three-match series 12 months ago.

“Pakistan have some good players and they’re a very different team from when we played them in previous series,” Mohammed said.

“I think they’re a pretty good team. Their bowling is really their strength, so hopefully our batters can counter that and put a total on the board for us to bowl at. All teams in this competition are strong; everyone’s here to win and to qualify. We’re taking every game very seriously.”

West Indies enter their next match at the top of Group B on two points and a net run rate of +0.900. Another win would see them move to four points and stay top of the five-team group. The top two teams will qualify for the semi-finals.