Matthews 132 shapes world record West Indies chase

West Indies 213 for 3 (Matthews 132, Taylor 59) beat Australia 212 for 6 (Perry 70, Litchfield 52*, Matthews 3-36) by seven wickets

Inspired by their captain Hayley Matthews and supported by Stafanie Taylor, West Indies produced a stunning world-record T20I chase to sink Australia at North Sydney Oval.After the first innings, it appeared Phoebe Litchfield would be the performance talked about as she equaled the record for the fastest fifty in women’s T20Is off 18 balls, but that was put well in the shade.

Matthews, who was left stranded on 99 in the opening match of the series, surged to a 53-ball century this time and carried her team to the brink when she finally fell for a magnificent 132 off 64 balls.

It left West Indies needing 9 off 7 deliveries which Shemaine Campbelle and Chinelle Henry were able to scamper in the final over against Ash Gardner with a ball to spare.

Taylor overcame a sluggish start to play a vital hand with 59 off 41 balls in a stand of 174 in 14 overs with Matthews. Australia’s bowlers had no answers and they paid the price for dropping Matthews twice, on 30 and 87. Their tactics will also have to be called into question with Matthews repeatedly exploiting an unprotected off-side boundary.

Overall, it was the highest scoring women’s T20I in history with 425 runs.

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