Hayley Matthews shatters ODI Century record as West Indies defeats Bangladesh in first ODI

A remarkable knock of 104 runs by Hayley Matthews helped the West Indies take a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series against Bangladesh. The Captain led from the front with an unbeaten hundred, marking her eighth ODI century, the most for a batter for the West Indies women in the format. 

With her explosive century, Hayley Matthews surpassed the record of Stafanie Taylor's 7 centuries. She became the first West Indies batter to score the most centuries in the ODI format. Her ton helped West Indies women chase down the target with over 100 balls to spare. 

What happened in the match between West Indies and Bangladesh Women 

The match began with West Indies Women team winning the toss and deciding to bowl first. The Bangladesh team managed to post a total of 198 runs with the loss of 9 wickets in total 50 overs. The highest run scorer from Bangladesh was Sharmin Akhter, who scored 42 runs in 70 deliveries, hitting 4 fours. 

She was followed by Murshida Khatun and Sobhana Mostary who scored 40 and 35 runs respectively in 53 and 50 balls. Deandra Dottin once again shined with her magical performance, claiming three crucial wickets by giving away 40 runs in 10 overs. The Captain, Hayley Matthews and Aaliyah Alleyne picked up two wickets, while Afy Fletcher took 1 wicket.

When West Indies came to bat, they comfortably chased the target in just 31.4 overs with at least 109 balls to spare.  The Captain, Matthews played a remarkable knock of 104 runs with the contribution by Kyshona Joseph, who scored 70 runs off 79 deliveries. The duo formed a solid partnership of 163 runs, standing out to be the third biggest partnership for West Indies Women for any wicket. 

Most number of centuries for West Indies in Women’s ODI

The number of centuries scored by players include: 

·         Hayley Matthews – 8 centuries in 85 innings

·         Stafanie Taylor – 7 centuries in 154 innings 

·         Deandra Dottin – 3 centuries in 138 innings 

Matthews has completed her 2644 runs in the ODI format. She went past Rachael Haynes and Beth Mooney, the Australian batters in the format. 

Hayley Matthews delighted with performance 

The Windies Captain Hayley Matthews expressed delight on her remarkable performance and contribution. She highlighted about the importance of upcoming 2 crucial games and aimed at improving the team for those games. “We've obviously got World Cup Qualifiers coming up, which is gonna be super important. And this is the only ODI series that we do have before it. So, this is, I think, really good warm up, a really good practice for us, a really good preparation.”

Chances of Bangladesh and West Indies for World Cup qualification 

As per the table, Bangladesh Team is in seventh place on the ICC Women's Championship table with 19 points behind New Zealand. West Indies is on the ninth position with 14 points. These series hold a significant importance for both the teams, as they will be eying to qualify for the World Cup. The Bangladesh team need by victory by 2-1 to qualify for the World Cup. West indies will have to finish above both Bangladesh and New Zealand. 

As per reports, there will be eight teams at the World Cup, with India, the hosts already qualified. Five slots will be filled by the top five teams in the 2022-2025 ICC Women’s Championship. The other two will come from the 2025 Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier.