‘It’s all in our hands’ - Matthews backs West Indies to qualify for T20 WC semi-finals

A loss to England at Lord's on Wednesday has done nothing to dampen the confidence of West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews.

Matthews believes her side is well placed to reach the semi-finals of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup.

The Caribbean side suffered their first loss of the tournament when they fell to a 38-run defeat to hosts England at Lord's on Wednesday, and now find themselves needing a victory against Ireland in their final group match to make sure they earn a place in the knockout stages.

But Matthews is happy with this predicament given the West Indies are not reliant on any other results in determining their fate, and must just focus on knocking off Ireland in Bristol on Saturday to progress.

"It's all in our hands and I think the fact that it is all in our hands puts us in a wonderful position," Matthews said after the loss to England.

"I think, coming into this (T20) World Cup, if you'd said to us we just have to beat Ireland in the last match and we'd have a semi-final spot, we'd have grabbed the opportunity with both hands. 

"So we're in a really, a really good place as a group."

Matthews managed just 14 runs against England at Lord's on Wednesday as the West indies failed to chase down the hosts' big total of 186/7, despite the best efforts of Chinelle Henry, who managed to compile a decent 51 as the mercury dipped late into the London evening.

It was Henry's first innings of note at the tournament and Matthews thinks there is still plenty of improvement from the West Indies' batting group.

"I think we're still not quite firing with the bat," Matthews noted.

"I still haven't got runs, Deandra (Dottin) still hasn't got her runs. 

"Chinelle (Henry) looked really good today, which is a positive. But I certainly feel like we're in a very, very strong place right now."

But, despite the lack of runs among many of their key players, Matthews remains confident that the West Indies can push for a second T20 World Cup title, should they find their best form against Ireland and during the knockout phase.

"I guess the message to the team is just going to be to keep believing, keep playing some really good cricket. 

"I think, against a team like Ireland, if we are at our best or near to our best, we should be coming out on the right side of the result. 

"I'm not saying anything bad about Ireland. But ,yeah, I think we're pretty confident. 

"We obviously know that they've got some dangerous players, and, in T20 cricket, it takes one or two players to take a game away from you. 

"But, at the same time, we're just going to back our best brand of cricket and go into that match fearless, knowing that it's all in our hands."

• icc-cricket.com