KARACHI: Absolutely ecstatic at Pakistan women cricket team’s historic one-day series win against the West Indies on Monday, the foreign coaches termed the triumph a big step in the right direction.

Talking to this correspondent from Dubai, the team’s head coach Mark Coles expressed satisfaction over the fight put up by Pakistan women cricketers in both T20s and ODIs.

“I am very pleased with the team’s efforts. I thought in both the series our women players fought superbly. however, we still have room for improvement,” Coles said

The head coach who hails from from New Zealand, termed the historic victory a small steps toward future dominance. “I think sticking to clear batting and bowling plans as well as improvements in fielding are main contributing factors towards the team’s progress lately,” Coles added.

Meanwhile, Andy Richards, team’s batting consultant from Australia, described the girls as heroes of the nation and added that the circumstances make them more resilient.

“They have fought a lot to be here. These girls are all her­oes. They have overcome some extraordinary obstacles to play cricket at this level in Pakistan which gives them a bit more resilience,” Richards said.

Pakistan won the last T20 of the series in Pakistan followed by the 2-1 triumph in the ODI series in Dubai.

“This win may eventually turn out to be the deciding factor in Pakistan women securing direct qualification for the 2021 ICC Women’s World Cup to be played in New Zealand,” Richards observed.

The ICC Women’s ODI Championship 2017-2021 will decide which teams would qualify directly for the 2021 World Cup and which teams would play the qualifiers in 2020. The championship is being played between women’s teams of Pakistan, Australia, England, South Africa, India, West Indies, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2019