West Indies captain Hayley Matthews etched her name deeper into cricket history on 24 June 2026 at Lord’s, becoming the West Indies’ leading wicket-taker in Women’s T20 Internationals in the side’s World Cup clash with England.
The 28-year-old all-rounder and skipper achieved the milestone in the fourth game of the West Indies’ campaign, needing only one wicket coming into the game, and did so while captaining her side against a full-strength England unit led on the day by stand-in skipper Charlie Dean.
Opting to bowl first, Matthews completed the landmark during a disciplined spell that finished with figures of (4–0–32–1) as England posted 186 for 7 in their allotted 20 overs. Danielle Wyatt-Hodge’s aggressive half-century (65 off 42) guided England’s charge, supported by Heather Knight (43 off 26) and Alice Capsey (28 off 23). The total proved challenging on a tricky Lord’s wicket and, despite Matthews’ milestone, West Indies were unable to chase it down, losing by 38 runs and suffering their first defeat of the tournament.
Hayley Matthews’ route to this peak is a story of early promise turned into durable excellence. She made her T20I debut on 27 September 2014 against New Zealand at Kingstown and, across 122 WT20I matches and 115 bowling innings, has now taken 126 wickets at an average of 18.79 and an economy of 6.19, numbers that underline her sustained value with the ball. Her resume includes four four-wicket hauls, the best of which came on 26 May 2015 versus Sri Lanka in Colombo when she returned sensational figures of 4–0–10–4, a performance that earned her Player of the Match honours in a 9-wicket victory.
At the tournament level, Matthews has been equally influential. The Lord’s breakthrough came in her sixth ICC Women’s T20 World Cup campaign since debuting at the event in 2016. She is ranked 4th in West Indies T20 World Cup wicket-takers with 24 scalps across 27 matches; in the 2026 edition, she had already matched Aaliyah Alleyne as the team’s joint highest wicket-taker with eight wickets from four matches, averaging 12.12 and conceding 6.06 runs per over. That consistency has placed her among the tournament’s leading bowlers alongside the likes of Sophie Ecclestone and Fatima Sana.
Matthews’ all-round credentials were on display at Lord’s in the run chase as well. Opening alongside Deandra Dottin, she helped form a steady 21-run start, stroking boundaries and looking composed at the crease before a contentious caught-behind decision in the fourth over ended her innings at 14 off 17 balls. The dismissal, which frustrated the skipper, removed an important stabiliser and contributed to the West Indies falling short of the target.
Statistically and symbolically, the Lord’s moment is significant. To become the all-time WT20I leading wicket-taker for a nation with as rich a pool of talent as the West Indies highlights Matthews’ durability, adaptability and match-winning instincts. She has also represented Barbados at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, picking up a couple of wickets across that short campaign, adding further breadth to her experience in major tournaments.
West Indies sit second in the points table with six points from four games, and while England’s victory secured them the first semi-final spot in this 10th edition, Matthews’ milestone provides a timely reminder of the destructive, match-defining force she remains. At 28 and in the peak years of her career, Hayley Matthews has not only set a national benchmark but also reinforced her status as one of the premier all-round performers in women’s cricket today.
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