Matthews Wins The Series 4-1 for WI Women

After yet another Player-of-the-Match performance from skipper Hayley Matthews, the West Indies Women ended their five-match Twenty20 International series against the hosts, Pakistan Women, 4-1. They won decisively by eight wickets yesterday.

In the series final, which was played exclusively at the National Stadium, the 26-year-old Barbadian all-rounder hit 11 fours in a top score of 78 from 59 balls, as the Caribbean team successfully chased 135 points.

With her score yesterday being the highest of the five innings she played, she finished with a series-high 205 runs at an average of 41. She also finished with seven wickets, second highest for her side behind leg-spinner Afy Fletcher’s eight, at an average of 15.28 apiece, making her a strong candidate for Player-of-the-Series honours.

After the Power Play, Matthews and her deputy Shemaine Campbelle exchanged 103 runs for the second wicket, which helped the visitors reach 37 for one, 82 for one at the halfway point of the innings, and 117 for one with five overs left.

When Matthews was dismissed by left-arm spinner Nashra Sandhu with seven needed from 15 balls, the West Indies Women were well on their way to victory.

With 33 runs remained, Campbelle was not out, and Zaida James, a young left-handed all-rounder, arrived to the crease to complete the match with a boundary. This ended the Caribbean side’s wildly successful trip.

Before suffering an eight-wicket loss on Thursday in the fourth Twenty20 International, the visitors had won all but one of the previous seven international matches on the trip: the previous three T20Is by margins of one run, seven wickets, and two runs, and the previous three ICC Women’s Championship One-day Internationals.

Earlier, Fletcher had taken three wickets for seventeen runs in her four overs, while Windward Islands Women teammate Qiana Joseph provided support with two wickets. Meanwhile, West Indies Women had held the Pakistanis to 134 for eight after sending them in to bat, defying their strong top-order hitting.

Ayesha Zafar scored 22, Muneeba Ali scored 25, and Sidra Ameen led the Pakistan Women with 48 to finish the series with the second-highest aggregate behind Matthews’ 159. No other player for the hosts scored more than 20, though, as they ended the Power Play with 44 for one.