West Indies all-rounders Hayley Matthews has been having an exceptional World Cup so far. The 24 years old has contributed 225 runs with the bat and 10 wickets with the ball in the 5 matches. She scored a fabulous 100 against New Zealand in the tournament opener and has played a key role in the 3 matches that West Indies won.
She scored a century and took 2 wickets with the ball against New Zealand. Against England, she scored 45 runs and took 2 key wickets of Heather Knight and Nat Sciver. In the recent win against Bangladesh, Matthews turned the match as she took 4 for 15 in her 10 overs breaking the back of the Bangladesh batting unit. She also won the ‘Player of the Match’ award for her match-winning performances against New Zealand and Bangladesh.
Speaking during the post-match presentation after the victory against Bangladesh, Matthews shared her feeling about West Indies winning close games.
She said, “All our games have been close and we just try not to think about the result at the end of the day, just take it one ball at a time, one over at a time. It’s just really good that we’re able to get over the line again, it just shows the fight, the experience, and courage that we have within the team.”
Matthews said she was happy with the way Shemaine Campbelle stepped up and played a gritty knock of 53 of 107 balls against Bangladesh which helped West Indies finish up at 140. She also felt that Campbell set an example to the rest of the squad on how to play in those conditions.
When asked about the health update on Shamilia Connell who had collapsed and was taken to the hospital. Matthews said she has no idea what had actually happened to Connell. She believes Connell is a fighter and hopes she’ll be fine.
As per the reports on March 19th, Connell has been cleared to play for the rest of the tournament. But, she will be missing tomorrow’s match against Pakistan as she will be under a precautionary quarantine. Connell can be expected to be back against South Africa at Wellington on Thursday, 24th March.
West Indies must make sure to win at least one of their last 2 matches in order to qualify for the Semi-Finals.
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