The nominees for the ICC Women’s T20I Player of the Year 2023 included the likes of Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu, Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry, the West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews and the left-arm spinner from England Sophie Ecclestone. The West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews beats all of them in the race as she is named the ICC Women’s T20I Player of the Year 2023 for her exceptional performances in the T20I format last year.
She became only the 2nd player from West Indies to receive this honour after the former West Indian skipper Stafanie Taylor who became the first one to receive the honour in 2015. “I’ve been pretty blessed to have a good year wearing the West Indies colours, performing really well and helping the team. This is one of those awards that I’m going to cherish forever and knowing that it can make our West Indies fans home in the Caribbean and around the world happy is what motivates me to go out there and do my best.”
The West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews expresses her elation on receiving the T20I Player of the Year Award and bringing happiness to her fans back home and around the world.
JUST IN: 🚨
Hayley Matthews crowned ICC Women's T20I Player of the Year 2023. #CricketTwitter #ICCAwards pic.twitter.com/Vm3kVfDmwp
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) January 24, 2024
The 25-year-old all-rounder and the West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews had a stellar year in the T20I format. She is the leading run-scorer with 700 runs at an impressive strike rate of 132.32 and an astonishing average of 63.63 in 14 innings. Her tally of runs includes four half-centuries and a century. She had an exceptional outing in the three-match T20I series against Australia in Australia in October 2023. Her best performance with the bat came on 2nd October 2023 when she scored 132 runs at a humongous strike rate of 206.25 in the 2nd T20I.
Apart from her exploits with the bat, she has also picked up 19 wickets with the ball at a strike rate of 14.2 and an average of 16.21 in 13 innings. Her best performance with the ball came on 8th July 2023 against Ireland when she returned with the match figures (4/14) in her spell.
She will now be seen playing for the Mumbai Indians in the 2nd edition of the Women’s Premier League that will get underway from 23rd February 2024. She was the leading wicket-taker with the ball with 16 wickets to her name in 10 innings for Mumbai Indians in the Inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League in March last year. She was also the 5th highest run-scorer of the tournament and the 3rd highest run-scorer for Mumbai Indians with 271 runs to her name at a strike rate of 126.04 and an average of 30.11 in 10 innings.
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