Credit: Twitter
West Indies women's team captain Hayley Matthews put forth a top-class performance to help the Windies chase down the highest total in women's T20I. Starting off with the ball, Matthews picked up three wickets while giving away 36 runs as Australia posted a massive 212-run total at the North Sydney Oval.
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For the hosts, Ellyse Perry starred with a 70-run knock in 46 balls along with crucial cameos by Phoebe Litchfield (52 in 19 balls) and Georgia Wareham (32 in 13 balls). Then in the second innings, Mathews opened the innings and dominated the Aussies bowlers.
Hayley Matthews reached her 50 in 21 balls at the 8.5 over-mark with a boundary towards backward square leg against Jess Johansen. After the milestone, Matthews changed gears and completed a stunning century in 53 balls. The carnage continued as the Mumbai Indians women's star smashed 29 runs in her next 11 balls before being dismissed at the score of 132 runs.
With West Indies in a comfortable spot to clinch the win, the duo of Chinelle Henry and Shemaine Campbelle hit the remaining eight runs in the final, with two balls to spare and completed a historic victory.
"I think I've learned more about myself and my batting. The areas I want to access. It's been working really well for me. The leadership of the team has made me take a lot more responsibility. Last game we spoke about learning. We came in with the exact same team for that exact reason. Obviously, the last game was a bit tough for us with the ball but we backed the bowlers to come back today and we saw from the start they were right on the mark."
"We knew we had to go pretty hard early on with the bat. Batting with Stafanie helps a lot and I think she really got into her groove today. To chase down over 200 is something we've never been able to do let alone against the best team in the world. I'm incredibly proud of this squad and hopefully, we can keep moving forward."
