The West Indies women’s team is on a tour of Sri Lanka for a 3-match ODI and T20I series. The ODI Series has been ongoing in Hambantota, and Sri Lanka is leading 2-0 against the West Indies, having already sealed the series before the third match.
The series began on June 15, 2024, with the first ODI at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota, which Sri Lanka won by six wickets. The second ODI started on June 18, 2024, at the same stadium, where Sri Lanka again registered an easy win, defeating the West Indies by 5 wickets with 172 balls remaining. But before the third ODI match, the West Indies Women’s team suffered a significant blow with Cricket West Indies announcing that ‘West Indies Captain Hayley Matthews has been ruled out of the ODI series due to illness’, which may impact the team’s performance in the remaining matches.
Cricket West Indies is thus concerned about the health of their key player, Hayley Matthews, as she plays an important role as a key player, captain, and senior player in the squad. Matthews is one of the talented players from the West Indies Women’s team who can change the course of a match with her batting and bowling skills. Her white-ball record is quite magnificent, which sees her in over the last 18 months, be one of the important pillars of the team, scoring 519 runs in nine ODIs at an average of 74.14, including three hundreds, making her the most successful batter since the beginning of 2023.
Matthews played only the first ODI match of the series, where she scored 38 runs off 53 balls, helping the West Indies team to get a stable start. However, in that match, the West Indies were unable to post a substantial total on the scoreboard and were all out for just 195 runs. In response, Sri Lanka chased this target in just 35 overs and registered an easy win over the West Indies by 6 wickets. In the Second ODI, West Indies captain Hayley Matthews, owing to health issues missed the match. In her absence, Shemaine Campbelle led the West Indies but was unable to make a greater impact in that match as a captain or as a batter. While batting first, the West Indies could only manage to post 92 runs on the scoreboard. As a result, Sri Lanka chased this target in just 22 overs, and with this win, they secured the ODI series with one match remaining.
Cricket West Indies is hopeful about Matthews recovering in time for the three-match T20 series, which will commence from June 24, followed by matches on June 26 and 28 at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota.
