WI-W vs SL-W, 3rd ODI: All-round brilliance from Hayley Matthews earns home team consolation win

Match Overview

West Indies Women and Sri Lanka Women locked horns in the third ODI at the National Cricket Stadium, St George's in Grenada on Wednesday, February 25. Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu won the toss and elected to bat first.

West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews began the proceedings with a bang as the off spinner trapped the danger player Athapaththu leg before off just the fourth ball of the innings for a duck. Opener Hasini Perera then combined with Harshitha Samarawickrama to build a foundation and the duo put on 43 runs for the second wicket before Matthews struck again to send back Perera for 27(34).

Vishmi Gunaratne and Samarawickrama continued with the momentum to take Sri Lanka to a healthy 122 in the 31st over before the former was dismissed by Karishma Ramharack. One run later, another set batter, Samarawickrama, had to walk back to the pavilion but not before compiling a crucial 70(112). Apart from Kavisha Dilhari (45* off 58), no one else really fired for the visitors as West Indies restricted them to 217/7.

West Indies had a similar start to their chase as well as Qiana Joseph and wicketkeeper-batter Shemaine Campbelle fell victims to Malki Madara by the fifth over. But, the skipper Matthews and Stafanie Taylor took on the responsibility and played positively to run down the deficit over by over. The partnership prospered with Matthews leading the charge and by the time it came to an end with Taylor's wicket, it was worth 124 runs off 154 balls.

Matthews and Chinelle Henry did not relent as the former completed her 10th ODI century off 118 balls, but perished next ball to her counterpart. Deandra Dottin and Henry kept the runs coming without any undue pressure as the required rate was under control for the most part of the innings. In the end, the home team cruised to a six-wicket victory with four overs to spare to make it 1-2 in the series as the caravan now enters the T20I arena.

Top run-scorer of the match

Top wicket-taker of the match

Player of the Match

Hayley Matthews

The skipper led her troops by example. The 27-year-old first put up a solid bowling performance by not just taking wickets but keeping the runs down as well. Remarkably, the off spinner bowled 43 dot balls out of her 60 deliveries and that explains the kind of impact she had on the first innings total.

Opening the innings with the bat, Matthews looked cautious at first but soon started to play positively after getting set. The batter was the aggressor of all her partners and kept the flow of runs coming which did not allow the Sri Lankan bowlers to exert much pressure. The right-hander's innings proved to be the reason behind the comfortable victory for the home team.

Turning Point

The third-wicket stand of 124 runs off 154 balls between Matthews and Taylor took the game away from Sri Lanka almost completely. The Caribbean side was in trouble early on with two wickets falling in the first five overs. But, the duo took responsibility and batted sensibly to take their team to a position of comfort.