‘Jhuk k rehna padega mere aage’ – Fans react as Hayley Matthews single-handedly helps West Indies chase record total against Australia

West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews has helped her side chase down a record total in Women’s T20I cricket. In the second T20I against Australia in Sydney, the home side lost the toss and were asked to bat first. The Green Brigade amassed 212/6 with Ellyse Perry (70), Phoebe Litchfield (52*), and Annabel Wareham (32*) helping the team reach the competitive total.

In reply, the Maroon Brigade had a poor start as they lost the wicket of Shabika Gajnabi (1). However, the likes of Matthews (132) and Stephanie Taylor (59) put together 174 runs for the second wicket. This partnership helped the team chase down the target in 19.5 overs. With this, 213 is now the record total chased down by women’s teams.

It’s been working really well for me: Hayley Matthews

“I think I’ve learned more about myself and my batting. The areas I want to access. It’s been working really well for me. The leadership of the team has made me take a lot more responsibility. Last game we spoke about learning. We came in with the exact same team for that exact reason. Obviously, the last game was a bit tough for us with the ball but we backed the bowlers to come back today and we saw from the start they were right on the mark.

We knew we had to go pretty hard early on with the bat. Batting with Stafanie helps a lot and I think she really got into her groove today. To chase down over 200 is something we’ve never been able to do let alone against the best team in the world. I’m incredibly proud of this squad and hopefully we can keep moving forward,” the West Indies skipper said after being rewarded as the Player of the Match.

This is how Twitter reacted