West Indies captain Hayley Matthews put on a stunning show of resilience after she was stretchered off, battling cramps, before returning to smash her ninth ODI century in a bid to prevent an upset against Scotland in their ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 Qualifier opener in Lahore on Wednesday.
Chasing a 245-run target, West Indies slipped from 120 for two and later to 203 for nine as opener Matthews retired hurt twice while on 95 and 99 after suffering from severe cramps.
Matthews, however, had no respite as she was stretchered off the field after 41.3 overs as No. 11 Karishma Ramharack fell for a golden duck next ball! Returning instantly to the crease for a fourth time in the innings, Matthews reached her ninth ODI century off the next delivery in only 101 balls to keep the Windies fight alive.
Matthews then set up a 30-run stand alongside Aaliyah Alleyne, adding 15 runs. However, Scotland would walk away with a stinging 11-run victory after Alleyne was trapped lbw by spinner Abtaha Maqsood in the 47th over, leaving Matthews unbeaten on 114 (113b, 14×4).
Records tumble
Matthews’ century followed a four-wicket haul (4/56) in the first innings, making her only the fourth woman ever to record a century and a four-wicket haul in an ODI. Matthews is, however, the first female captain to record the staggering double in ODIs.
The West Indies all-rounder is also the second-youngest (27 y 111d) and second-quickest (88 innings) to reach nine centuries in women’s ODIs, only behind Australia’s Meg Lanning on both counts.
Matthews also equalled Lanning and New Zealand’s Suzie Bates for centuries against most teams, with Scotland being the seventh different country against whom she has recorded a hundred.