KARACHI, Pakistan, CMC – All-rounder Hayley Matthews has praised captain Stafanie Taylor’s trust in her players, after West Indies trounced Pakistan by 37 runs in the second One-Day International here Thursday.
With Pakistan cruising on 67 for two in the 25th over with a simple target of 154 well within reach, Taylor kept faith with Matthews despite an uncertain start, and the right-arm off-spinner snatched four for 26 as the hosts lost their last eight wickets for 49 runs.
“I think what is really good about the relationship that Skip (Taylor) has with a lot of the players is that she really trusts us,” Matthews said.
“She knows that I understand the game to a certain extent and she trusts me to bowl in the right areas.
“Two of my first three overs were pretty expensive going for 15 runs and she was still able to have enough confidence in me to bring me back on for that fourth over and I was able to get the wicket.
“I think the biggest thing is trust and it’s really good we have a captain that we’re able to trust. It works in our favour a lot of the time and it really did [on Thursday].”
Matthews also starred in the opening ODI last Monday, claiming three for 31 and scoring an attractive 57 as West Indies Women pulled off a 45-run victory.
And Thursday’s victory ensured the first away series win for West Indies Women in five years, having last beaten South Africa Women 2-1 in a three-match tour in 2016. With the final match carded for Sunday, Matthews said the Caribbean side would not be letting their guard down as they were already eyeing a clean sweep of the series.
“Coming down here our expectations were really high,” explained the 23-year-old Matthews.
“Obviously being ranked above Pakistan, we wanted to not only win the series but have a clean sweep and win it three-love.
“So it’s really good that we’re up two-love and we’ve won the series so far, but I think the girls are into winning that third game and hopefully we can have a full clean sweep when the series is finished.”
The tour of Pakistan will serve as vital preparation for West Indies Women’s campaign in the ICC World Cup qualifiers which bowl off in Zimbabwe later this month.
