KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent – West Indies Women captain Hayley Matthews has candidly acknowledged that both her own problems and the team’s recent batting slump contributed to a 43-run loss 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 held the Australians to 164 for six, the home team managed only 121 for six. Matthews could manage just 11 runs, while Qiana Joseph shone with 45 off 39 balls and Stafanie Taylor chipped in with 28 off 25 balls, the only bright sparks in an otherwise subdued batting performance.
Matthews confronts his 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 his personal dip in form to the team’s wider batting struggles.
“I think we can certainly take the positives from how we pitched today, but the last few games we’ve probably been disappointing with the bat,” Matthews said. “Obviously I’m a little stagnant myself, and that probably correlates with how we’re doing with the bat, but certainly we as a hitting group have to find ways to score and get better as a team. I want us to come back strong. It’s going to be very important for us to pick ourselves up.”
Bowling effort praised
Despite the disappointing batting, Matthews praised the performance of his players. He noted that although the batting conditions were difficult, the team failed to take advantage of the opportunities.
“We probably thought around 160 would be a good score to chase, so I was really happy with the way it went, especially the pacers getting those wickets up front,” he explained. “As Australia’s innings went on, it seemed to slow down a bit, speeding up in the middle and then slowing down again towards the end. The conditions weren’t that bad, we just didn’t execute like we wanted to today.”
Matthews emphasized the importance of resilience and learning from setbacks as the series progresses. With an eye on improvement, he asked the Windies to refine their batting approach and respond with greater consistency in the upcoming T20Is.
