Hayley Matthews may not have been the first choice of franchises in inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL) auctions, but the experienced West Indies all-rounder has been creating ripples in T20 cricket. After playing a pivotal role in Mumbai Indians (MI) title win, she led another franchise to title win on April 17.
In the FairBreak Invitational T20 tournament, she led Warriors Women to a massive 93-run win in the final. Under USA cricketer Sindhu Sriharsha's leadership, Matthew opened the innings after Falcons Women skipper Suzie Bates won the toss and opted to field first.
Matthews started dominating in the powerplay overs itself. She hit Thailand spinner Sornnarin Tippoch for two sixes and one four in the second over. The wicket of Phoebe Litchfield and Ellie Johnston did not have an impact on her scoring rate. In the seventh over, she got her half-century from just 20 balls.
The onslaught continued and Mignon du Preez scored just eight runs from 13 balls in the 68-run partnership for the third wicket. Du Preez just tried to rotate the strike and let Matthews take on the bowlers. In the 13th over, she got to her century from just 44 balls. She hit Anju Gurung for two fours and as many sixes in the over.
Matthews looked like she was set to break several T20 records but lost her wicket to Hong Kong pacer Mariko Hill in the 15th over. She scored 123 runs from 52 balls at a stupendous strike rate of 236.53. Her mammoth knock was studded with 11 fours and nine sixes.
After Matthews' wicket, Kathryn Bryce and skipper Sriharsha carried forward the momentum. Bryce went ballistic in the penultimate over hitting Bates for three fours and two sixes. She got to her half-century from just 19 balls. Bryce’s unbeaten 20-ball 52 and Sriharsha's 18-ball 25 helped Warriors post a gigantic total of 230/4 on the board.
In reply, Falcons got off to a decent start but kept losing wickets due to scoreboard pressure. Matthews performed well with the ball as well taking the wickets of opener Chamari Athapaththu and Christian Gough. She conceded just 14 runs from three overs. Bryce was exceptional with the ball too as she took three wickets including opener Dannielle Wyatt, Bates and Jahanara Alam. Falcons managed to post 137/8 on the board and lost the match by 93 runs.
Matthews’ WPL record
In WPL 2023, Matthews finished as the joint-highest wicket-taker and fifth-highest run-scorer. She took 16 wickets and scored 271 runs from 10 games. She was adjudged 'Player of the series' for her all-round performance.
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