Another day, another match where Hayley Matthews stood tall for the West Indies—and once again in a losing cause. This has become a familiar story for the Windies across formats in recent times. Her record-breaking unbeaten century went in vain, as she found no support from the other end. Speaking after the match, Matthews admitted that the lack of runs on the board cost them the game.
Matthews said: “A good day for myself but unfortunate not to get the win. Felt we were 15-20 runs short. We weren’t able to build as many partnerships. Hard to defend 150, on the wrong end today. Always good when you can hit a few well. Hope to carry the form through the series.”
Meanwhile, a new era began for the England Women’s Cricket team on 21 May 2025, as they took the field in Canterbury for the first T20I against the West Indies. All eyes were on how the team would perform under new head coach Charlotte Edwards and captain Nat Sciver-Brunt. It turned out to be a near-perfect start. England chased down the 147-run target in just 16.3 overs and won the game comfortably by eight wickets.
Sciver-Brunt chose to bowl first, and the West Indies never got going apart from Matthews. No other batter managed a meaningful contribution. The Windies posted 146/7 in 20 overs, with Matthews unbeaten on 100 off 67 balls, at a strike rate of 149.25. The remaining eight batters scored just 46 runs in total. Wicketkeeper Mandy Mangru, batting at number eight, was the second-highest scorer with 17 from 16 balls.
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The highest partnership of 47 runs off 33 balls came for the seventh wicket between Matthews and Mangru. This summed up the poor state of the West Indies’ batting. With Deandra Dottin and Chinelle Henry missing, it was a chance for others to step up. But they failed to provide any support to Matthews.
Poor shot selection, lack of intent, and careless dismissals left Matthews visibly frustrated. One example was debutant Realeanna Grimmond. The 20-year-old was sent in at number four but got out in a bizarre way. After completing a run, she wandered out of her crease, unaware of the ball’s location. Sciver-Brunt threw it to Amy Jones, who removed the bails. Matthews was clearly frustrated but still walked up and patted the youngster on the back, showing leadership in a tough moment.
West Indies entered this series after a heartbreaking failure in the ODI World Cup qualifiers, where they didn’t even qualify for the main tournament. Matthews had led from the front there too, finishing as both the highest run-scorer (240 in five innings) and top wicket-taker (13 in five innings) for West Indies. Back then, she had some support from players like Henry and Stafanie Taylor. But the rest failed to contribute much.
In this T20I series, West Indies must find answers. If the same pattern continues—where only Matthews shows fight—it will not help them in the long run.
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