KINGSTOWN, St Vincent – West Indies Women’s captain Hayley Matthews has candidly acknowledged that both her own struggles and the team’s recent batting slump contributed to a 43-run defeat against Australia Women in the opening T20I on Thursday.
After a promising start at 76 for one, the Windies’ innings faltered under pressure. Despite disciplined bowling that kept the Australians to 164 for six, the home side managed only 121 for six. Matthews could muster just 11 runs, while Qiana Joseph shone with 45 off 39 balls and Stafanie Taylor contributed 28 off 25 balls, the only bright sparks in an otherwise subdued batting performance.
Matthews confronts her form
The 25-year-old captain returned earlier this year after shoulder surgery in 2025, but admits she is still finding her rhythm. Speaking in a post-match interview, Matthews linked her personal dip in form to the broader batting struggles of the team.
“I think we can certainly take the positive out of how we bowled today, but over the last few matches we’ve probably been disappointing with the bat,” Matthews said. “I’m obviously in a bit of a rut myself, and that’s probably correlating to how we’re going with the bat, but we certainly as a batting group have to figure out ways to score and ways to get better as a team. I want us to come back strong. It’s going to be really important that we pick ourselves up.”
Bowling effort commended
Despite the batting disappointment, Matthews praised her bowlers’ performance. She noted that while batting conditions were tricky, the team failed to capitalize on opportunities.
“We probably figured that around 160 would be a good score for us to chase, so I was pretty happy about the way that went, especially the pacers getting those wickets up front,” she explained. “As the Australia innings went on, it seemed to slow a touch, picked up in the middle, and then slowed again toward the end. The conditions weren’t too bad, we just didn’t execute how we wanted today.”
Matthews emphasized the importance of resilience and learning from setbacks as the series progresses. With a clear eye on improvement, she called on the Windies to refine their batting approach and respond with greater consistency in the upcoming T20Is.
