Hayley Matthews’ all-round brilliance helped West Indies register an unbelievable win over Australia in the second T20I on 2nd October (Monday), chasing down 213 with seven wickets to spare.
Opting to bowl first, West Indies, who had lost the first clash, had a memorable start to the second T20I, as they reduced Australia to 0-1 and then 7-2. At 120-5 in the 15th over, West Indies had the upper hand, but a 19-ball 52* from Phoebe Litchfield helped Australia to 212-6, their fourth-highest T20I score in history.
Skipper Hayley Matthews was the star for West Indies, picking up three wickets and conceding 36 runs.
She would end up overshadowing her bowling performance in the second innings, with a career-best knock of 132 in 64 balls, which contained 20 fours and as many sixes. En route to her knock, she broke a number of records, registering the third-highest runs in an innings among full members in women’s cricket. While chasing, no one has scored more than Matthews’ 132, with Danni Wyatt second on the list with an innings of 124.
She also became the second women’s player to score 100 runs and pick up three wickets in the same T20I. Last year, Bahrain’s Deepika Rasangika achieved the feat. Overall, she is only the second player from a Test-playing nation to complete the double of 100 runs and three wickets in the same T20I, after Glenn Maxwell.
Only four other times has a women’s player from West Indies made a century in T20Is, a feat shared between two players. Deandra Dottin has two T20I tons, and this was also Matthews’ second hundred in the format.
West Indies went on to complete the run chase in 19.5 overs, with Stafanie Taylor making a 41-ball 41. No other batter from the side could cross five, which highlights the domination of Matthews.
It was also the first time that a women’s team had successfully chased down 200 runs to win a women’s T20I. The record was earlier with England, who had chased down 199 against India in 2018.
West Indies’ win was also the first time since the 2016 T20 World Cup final that they have defeated Australia in the format. Overall, it was West Indies’ third triumph over Australia in women’s cricket, having also defeated them in an ODI in 2013.
The third and final T20I will be played in Brisbane on October 5.
