The West Indies women’s cricket team is currently on a tour to Australia for a limited-overs series which includes a three-match T20I series followed by a three-match ODI series. The tour commenced on 1st October 2023 and will conclude on 15th October 2023.
The West Indies skipper led from the front as she had a dream run in the T20I series. She accumulated a record-breaking tally of 310 runs with an impressive strike rate of 174.15 and a humongous average of 155. She also became the first woman cricketer to score 300+ runs in a three-match T20I series. She went past Andrea-Mae Zepeda’s 250 for Austria Vs Belgium in 2021. She returned with scores of 99 (74 balls), 132 (64 balls), and 79 (40 balls) becoming the first woman to make three consecutive 50+ scores in T20Is against Australia.
Hayley’s century in the second T20I also etched her name in the history books as she became 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. She now has eight consecutive Player of the Match awards.
She became the second-youngest woman after former West Indies skipper Stafanie Taylor (24 years) to complete 2000 runs in the T20I format. Apart from her exceptional effort with the bat, she also picked up five wickets with the ball. Despite her batting masterclass right through the series, West Indies failed to capitalise on the massive opportunity to create history by defeating the world champions Australia in a T20I series in their own backyard.
“I felt my quad pulling a bit from the last game when we were in the field, and I think I ran for a ball and felt it again. So maybe a little strain there but we’re going to assess it when I cool down and have a better picture of what’s going on. Hopefully, it’s nothing too serious and I’m all ready to go in the first game for the ODI series.” Hayley Matthews gives an update about the status of her injury ahead of the ODI series. The West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews will be keen to continue her purple patch of form against Australia in the ODI series. However, she is suffering an injury scare as she complained about the strain in her quadriceps in the third T20I.
“I feel like how I’ve been batting here in the T20s, a lot of the time I’ve just been trying to play really good cricket shots, and that’s my exact plan going into the 50-over series as well just continue playing good cricket shots all around the ground, play each ball on its merits, but there’s definitely a lot less pressure to score quickly. When you get opportunities like this, you’ve got to keep trying to score runs as often as you can. Hopefully, I can go into the ODI series and continue my form. West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews speaks about playing the ball on it’s merit and playing good cricket shots.
(Quotes sourced from Cricket Australia Press Release).