Matthews’ half century in vain as Aussie Women continue dominance over Windies

2026-03-22 - 17:15

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent – West Indies Women’s captain Hayley Matthews struck a fighting half century, but it was not enough to prevent her side from going down to Australia Women by 17 runs to give the visitors a series-clinching victory here on Saturday. Matthews, who admitted she was in a batting rut prior to the match, bounced back to score 56 off 41 balls, but the home side could only muster 147 for four in their 20 overs in response to Australia’s total of 164 for five at the Arnos Vale Ground. The result gave the Aussies an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, their fourth straight T20I series win over the Windies Women. The final match is set to be played at the same venue on Monday. After winning the toss and choosing to bat for the second straight match, the Aussies were given a good start by openers Georgia Voll and Beth Mooney, who put on 54 runs in six overs. Voll was the main aggressor, bludgeoning 39 of those runs off just 23 balls with six fours and one six, before holing out to mid on off the bowling of Karishma Ramharack. Mooney, Player-of-the-Match in the opener, struggled throughout her knock of 17 off 20 balls until she walked past a delivery from leg spinner Afy Fletcher and was bowled to give her a 100th T20I wicket, and leave the score 71 for two. Ellyse Perry, who topscored with 42 off 28 balls and Phoebe Litchfield, who made 35 off 29 balls, then added 58 runs for the third wicket to put Australia in firm control of the contest at 129 for two. At that stage, they would have been eyeing a total in the region of 180, but once Matthews had the latter caught at deep midwicket, the visitors lost their momentum in the latter stages of the innings, with the final three overs yielding only 20 runs and two wickets. The West Indies didn’t get the best of starts in their run chase, with Qiana Joseph being run out for 11 with just 13 runs on the board. Matthews and veteran Stafanie Taylor then shared a 77-run stand for the second wicket that threatened to take the match away from the Aussies. Matthews started slowly, scoring one run from her first 11 deliveries, but opened up to bring up her eighth T20I half century off 38 balls by tickling pacer Tahlia McGrath to fine leg for four. But just as she looked to accelerate, Matthews slapped spinner Player-of-the-Match Alana King straight into the hands of captain Sophie Molineux at mid off to leave the Windies 90 for two in the 13th over. From thereon, the Windies struggled to score runs, with King also accounting for the wicket of Taylor for a pedestrian 22 off 27 balls, while Georgia Wareham dismissed Shemaine Campbelle for six to see the home side slump to 113 for four in the 18th over. Deandra Dottin tried her best with an unbeaten 39 off 28 balls, but it was never going to be enough, with the Windies needing 41 runs from the last two overs. King finished with figures of 2-25 from her four overs. SUMMARISED SCORES AUSTRALIA WOMEN 164-5 in 20 overs (Ellyse Perry 42, Georgia Voll 39, Phoebe Litchfield 35, Beth Mooney 17, Georgia Wareham 11) vs WEST INDIES WOMEN 147-4 in 20 overs (Hayley Matthews 56, Deandra Dottin 39 not out, Stafanie Taylor 27, Qiana Joseph 11; Alana King 2-27). Toss: Australia Women chose to bat. Result: Australia Women won by 17 runs to take a 2-0 lead in the three-match series. Player-of-the-Match: Alana King. Umpires: Lauren Agenbag, Maria Abbott. TV Umpire: Jacqueline Williams. Reserve Umpire: Candace la Borde. Match Referee: Reon King. (CMC)