BRISBANE, Australia – Captain Hayley Matthews sparkled again with another Player-of-the-Match half-century but it came in a losing cause as West Indies Women went down to Australia Women by 47 runs, to surrender their three-match Twenty20 International series 2-1 here Thursday.
West Indies Women captain Hayley Matthews.Needing a win to clinch a historic series success at Allan Border Field, the Caribbean side fell short of their target of 191, dismissed for 143 off the penultimate ball of the run chase.
Matthews stood tall with a stunning 40-ball 79 at the top of the order, her third straight score of fifty or more following her unbeaten 99 in the opener and her magnificent 132 in the second T20I which led West Indies Women to a series-levelling seven-wicket win.
The 25-year-old swept every Player-of-the-Match award in the series and was predictably named Player-of-the-Series.
Aaliyah Alleyne struck 26 from 23 balls but seamer Darcie Brown (3-20) and off-spinner Ashleigh Gardner (3-32) snatched three wickets apiece while new-ball pacer Kim Garth (2-24) grabbed a brace of wickets to hurt the chase.
At one stage, the visitors were 97 without loss but once Matthews became the first wicket to fall in the 11th over, the innings fell apart thereafter as ten wickets tumbled for 46 runs.
“I knew for sure we were in with a shot and that’s what I was gunning for, hence the fact I was trying to be pretty aggressive,” Matthews said.
“But unfortunately Darcie Brown kind of outsmarted me with that slower ball, getting me to hit in the air and I guess it (chase) didn’t go to plan after that.
“I think I was getting some boundaries pretty quickly, I think the momentum was definitely on our side at that point in time but the wicket kind of changed things a lot.”
Tahlia McGrath had earlier top-scored with 65 from 34 deliveries as the hosts gathered a challenging 190 for nine off their 20 overs after being sent in.
The 27-year-old right-hander, batting at number three, struck 11 fours and two sixes to pull her side around from 31 for two in the fifth over.
McGrath put on 80 for the third wicket with Allyse Perry who made 40 from 30 balls, before becoming one of three wickets to go down for 13 runs, to leave the innings stumbling on 129 for five in the 15th over.
Phoebe Litchfield rallied the back end, however, lashing a 17-ball 36 with five fours and a six, in a 49-run, sixth wicket partnership with Annabel Sutherland (19).
Fast bowler Shamalia Connell finished with three for 25.
In reply, Matthews took the game by the scruff of its neck, blasting 11 fours and four sixes, as she raced to her tenth T20I fifty off 29 balls – bringing up the landmark in the ninth over from which she plundered 20 runs off 21-year-old seamer Sutherland.
Matthews then took boundaries from the first two balls of the 11th over but holed out to cover off the fourth delivery, attempting a third.
The end came swiftly for West Indies Women. Opener Shabika Gajnabi (16) and former captain Stafanie Taylor (1) both perished in the 12th over, Chinelle Henry (1) and vice-captain Shemaine Campbelle (4) followed in the 13th while Afy Fletcher (8) and Rashada Williams (1) both departed in the 17th over.
