West Indies stun sloppy New Zealand as Shemaine Campbelle has her moment in the sun

West Indies stunned defending champions New Zealand with a seven-wicket victory in the fourth match of the Women's T20 World Cup 2026 on Saturday, June 13 at The Rose Bowl, Southampton. After being put in to bat first, New Zealand posted a good score of 162/6 in their allotted 20 overs, courtesy of valuable contributions from Brooke Halliday (40 off 32), Isabella Gaze (39 off 29) and Maddy Green (35* off 22).

For West Indies, Aaliyah Alleyne emerged as the pick of the bowlers with a four-wicket haul, while Deandra Dottin (1/22, 2 overs) and Hayley Matthews (1/31, 4 overs) also scalped one wicket each.

In reply, West Indies thrillingly pulled off a historic run chase on the penultimate delivery of their innings, with Shemaine Campbelle playing the innings of her life. She was well-supported by captain Hayley Matthews (48 off 37) as West Indies completed the second-highest successful run chase (163/3 in 19.5 overs) in Women's T20 World Cup history.

Top run-scorer of the Match

Top wicket-taker of the Match

Player of the Match

Shemaine Campbelle was adjudged Player of the Match for her stunning innings. She first played second fiddle to Hayley Matthews as the duo added 74 runs for the second wicket off 61 balls. Cambelle was on 31 (30) when Matthews departed and accelerated remarkably to bring up her half-century in 39 deliveries.

She continued to hold one end and never let the required run rate go out of control, and eventually took her team over the finishing line with her unbeaten innings of 90* (62), studded with seven fours and three sixes. It was the first ever half-century in T20Is for Campbelle, who was playing her 155^th match.

Turning Point

New Zealand had a forgettable day in the field to say the least as they gave West Indies as many as seven reprieves. They dropped Hayley Matthews thrice, and Izabella Gaze even missed a stumping chance of Shemaine Campbelle on 18. The wicketkeeper batter further managed to overturn an lbw decision through DRS after being given out on the field, while batting on 24. 

She was again dropped on 26 by New Zealand captain Amelia Kerr.  Cambelle went on to take advantage of all her reprieves and ended up playing the innings of her life as New Zealand were left ruing the missed opportunities in the field.

What did the captains say:

Winning Captain, Hayley Matthews (West Indies women):  

(On restricting New Zealand and assessing the chase) Yes, I think we did a pretty good job of restricting to 160. We were able to peg them back at regular intervals with wickets. Yeah, it felt like it was a pretty good wicket to go on, but 160 was definitely chaseable. But I think when we went in with the bat, we were probably a bit behind the run rate versus where we wanted to be. But obviously the wickets in hand were super vital, super important. And having a set batter at the crease was, I think, very crucial. (On Shemaine Campbelle’s match-winning innings) And then for Shemaine to play the innings that she did was just fantastic. She’s obviously very emotional, as she should be, because she’s definitely someone who plays with a lot of heart and a lot of fight. And I think at one point throughout that innings, she was struggling quite a bit to get the ball hit. But I think she just stuck with it and fought with it and ended up on the score she did, which was pretty amazing to see. (On winning without Stafanie Taylor and Chinelle Henry) I think when people look at our West Indies women’s team, they sometimes see just a few names and a few players. So to be able to come out here as a group, have players like Aaliyah Alleyne step up like she did with the ball, Afy Fletcher obviously, but just a full contribution from the team definitely means a lot. And I think it will give us a lot of confidence going back into the rest of the games, knowing that when we do get them back within the squad, it just adds to what we can do. And if we can beat teams like this without the two of them, I think our potential is limitless. And there’s still a lot of work to do. This is just our first game in the tournament. (On her fitness after appearing to struggle physically) Yeah, my fitness is fine, just a bit of cramp, but all good. (On the availability of Chinelle Henry and Stafanie Taylor) Yeah, I think we’re monitoring it day by day at the moment. I don’t think they were too far off from being available today. So hopefully with a few more days, we can see them in the next match potentially. But certainly feels like they’outside the leg-stump be back out here soon.

Losing Captain, Amelia Kerr (New Zealand women):

(On whether New Zealand’s total of 162 was competitive at the halfway stage) Yeah, I thought there were ebbs and flows throughout the innings, and I guess they kept pulling us back with wickets. But to get to 160, I thought if we bowl and field well, that we gave ourselves a really good chance of defending that. (On the dropped catches and missed opportunities in the field) It’s a tough day, and it’s a tough day to happen in a really important game for us at a World Cup. And, I guess our bowlers are creating the opportunities, but unfortunately, we weren’t taking them. And, there were too many chances, I guess, put down, and it hurt us a lot. (On whether conditions played any part in the fielding lapses) No, conditions are good. It’s, yeah, there was a bit of sun, I think, early on in the innings, but that’s not where any of the dropped catches were. And, yeah, no excuses, just really disappointing. (On the positives New Zealand can take from the match despite the defeat) I think we stayed in the game and we stayed in the fight, despite, I guess, dropping chances and not quite executing in the field. But I thought the way Campbell played, it was a brilliant innings. And her ball striking ability, especially in, I think, also the running between the wickets, the ability to turn ones into twos as well. They outran us and they outfielded us today. (On how she plans to lift the team after a disappointing opening defeat) I think one is acknowledging the performance today. There was still some really good stuff that we can take out of that game. I thought Maddie (Green) at the end, the way she finished with the bat, Jess and Rosemary with the ball as well. So you’ve got to take the positives, but we do have to have a look at what we didn’t do well. And we can be sad tonight, we can be disappointed, but then come tomorrow, we’ve got to turn up and be better and look forward because there’s still plenty of games to come.