Gros Islet [Saint Lucia], July 9 : With Hayley Matthews' dominating knock of 48 off 34 guided her team to a comfortable eight-wicket victory in the third T20I match against Ireland, whitewashing the series by 3-0.
Matthews' bowling spell of 4/ 14 restricted Ireland to 116 for 9 on Saturday in Gros Islet. Earlier she smashed 34-ball 48 to set up a dominating eight-wicket victory with 11 balls remaining. She won Player of the Match honours in all three T20Is, was named Player of the T20I Series, and had a strong start to the ODI series with a century and three wickets.
Put to bat, Ireland were looking solid with the second-wicket stand of 66 in 62 balls between Amy Hunter and Orla Prendergast. Matthews got the wicket of Gaby Lewis with her first ball.
However, Ireland collapsed soon after the Amy-Orla partnership wa broken through a runout of Hunter at the non-striker's end. The bowl had a deflection off the bowler's hand to dismiss Hunter at 44.
Matthews eliminated the middle and lower orders with a hat-trick in the 18th over, dropping Ireland to 110 for 7 after Prendergast holed out off Afy Fletcher for 40. Delany remains unbeaten at 14 off of 18. She watched as wickets fell all around her.
Earlier, West Indies had lost an early wicket before the second-wicket stand between Matthews and Aaliyah Alleyne worth 80 off 61 balls. Matthews hit eight fours but fell just short of fifty as she was dismissed by Georgina Dempsey in the 12th over. But Chinelle Henry sealed the chase with a boundary, and Alleyne remained unbeaten on 49 off 51, her joint-highest T20I score.
"I'm just happy I was able to contribute to the team win. It was great to see some of the younger players getting the opportunity this series and coming into their own. We've had debutant players perform really well. We've had Chinelle Henry get her maiden ODI half-century then back it up with a second one (in the series), then two not outs in the T20 series," Matthews told CWI Media as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
"I just want to thank all the girls who have supported me since I've become captain. Thank you for backing me up out on the field, we have bigger challenges ahead and I look forward to their support," Matthews further said.
Brief scores: West Indies: 120/2 (Alleyne 49*, Matthews 48, Dempsey 1-21) vs Ireland: 116/9 (Hunter 44, Prendergast 40, Matthews 4-14).
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