West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews has had one hell of a series against the World Champions Australia on their own turf. She whacked the helpless Australian bowlers towards all the parts of the ground in all 3 of her record-breaking innings.
Hayley scored 99* in the first T20I, followed it up by a scintillating century in the next (132), and again scored a breathtaking 79 in the series decider. In total, Hayley racked up a total of 310 runs from 3 innings at an average of 155 and an unbelievable strike rate of 174.15.
It’s an absolute travesty that a player after having a series like Hayley had, ends up on the receiving end of the series.
Let’s have a look at some of the records Hayley broke in this series –
Most Runs in a T20I Series
Hayley broke the record for most runs ever scored in a T20I series. Earlier the record was held by the White Ferns skipper Sophie Devine when she racked up a total of 297 runs against the Proteas in 2020. Hayley’s 310 was enough for her to make this record her own.
Highest-ever score against Australia
Hayley’s knock of 132 in the second T20I was the highest-ever knock against Australia in this format. Before this, the record was held by Chamari Athapaththu when she scored a fantastic 113 runs in 2019. This was also the highest-ever runs scored by a West Indies batter against Australia in a single innings.
3rd Most Runs before turning 26 in Women’s T20Is
Hayley Matthews has now the 3rd most runs for any batter in the shortest format of the game before turning 26 years old. She has scored a total of 2024 runs, with Smriti Mandhana (2033), and compatriot Stafanie Taylor (2389) ahead of her. The positive thing for Hayley is that she still has time to break this record. She doesn’t turn 26 till 19th March, more than 6 months to go. In the wickets section, she has taken 90 wickets, just behind Sophie Ecclestone (102) and Deepti Sharma (105).
2nd Youngest to score 2000 International Runs
Hayley (25 years 200 days) became the 2nd ever youngest player to score 2,000 international runs in this format. Only Stafanie Taylor (24 years 279 days) is ahead of her. She surpassed Smriti Mandhana (25 years 342 days) in breaking this record.
Most Runs in a calendar year
Hayley has also amassed the most runs (700) in a calendar year in the shortest format. Earlier the record was held by UAE’s Kavisha Egodage, who scored 696 runs in 2022. Hayley broke this record in just 14 innings, compared to Kavisha’s 696 off 25 innings.
Century while batting and chasing
Hayley’s century in the second T20I also etched her name in the history books as she has now become the first-ever Women player to have an international century in T20Is while both batting first and while chasing. Hayley scored 107 against Ireland in 2019, this incredible knock was in the first innings of the match, which helped West Indies to post a mammoth total of 188. Hayley’s knock of 132 was against Australia while chasing a steep target of 213.
Nervous Nineties
Hayley’s knock of 99* in the first T20I was the third-highest-ever knock which came while playing for the eventual losing side. Beth Mooney’s knock of 117 against England and Chamari Athapaththu’s 113 against Australia are the first 2 respectively.
(Stats sourced from HYPOCAUST/Twitter)
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