ENG-W vs WI-W, 2025, 1st T20I: Hayley Matthews’ century goes in vain as England Women win series opener

Published - 22 May 2025, 14:50 IST | Updated - 22 May 2025, 15:14 IST

Hosts England Women (ENG-W) comfortably beat the West Indies Women (WI-W) by eight wickets in the first T20I of the series at Canterbury. Sophia Dunkley and Heather Knight starred for the home side in the run chase, as Hayley Matthews' knock as a lone warrior went in vain. England Women were collectively better than the visiting side in all facets of the game and emerged as the deserving winners.

England Women won the toss and elected to bowl first on a good batting surface. The West Indies Women did not bat well, as wickets kept falling consistently from one end. Lauren Bell started well with the new ball and dismissed Qiana Joseph and Zaida James. Issy Wong and Em Arlott joined the party by claiming the wickets of Shabika Gajnabi and Aaliyah Alleyne, respectively.

While Linsey Smith dismissed Mandy Mangru and there were a couple of run outs, it was Hayley Matthews who waged a lone battle on behalf of her side. The West Indian Women's skipper scored an unbeaten 100*(67), which included 16 fours and a six. She accounted for a total of 71.42% of the team's runs, barring the extras, which summed up the story.

Chasing a total of just 147, England Women got a good start, thanks to Sophia Dunkley. The star batter hit boundaries for fun consistently, while her opening partner at the other end struggled to get going early in the match. The back-to-back wickets of Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Nat Sciver-Brunt could only slow Dunkley down slightly.

However, the experienced Heather Knight joined the party and went after the bowlers. The duo ensured there were no further hiccups, as they did not throw their wickets away. While the English opener anchored the chase from there, Knight took the onus upon herself and played an aggressive knock. Their partnership for the third wicket ensured England Women claimed a dominant win.

While Dunkley scored an unbeaten 81*(56), which included 12 fours, Knight smashed an unbeaten 43*(27), which included six fours and a lot of running between the wickets. In the end, the home side beat the visiting side by 8 wickets with 21 balls to spare. Despite being on the losing side, the West Indies skipper was awarded the Player of the Match honour.

A good day for myself but unfortunate not to get the win. Felt we were 15-20 runs short. We weren't able to build as many partnerships. Hard to defend 150, on the wrong end today. Always good when you can hit a few well. Hope to carry the form through the series. [Bowling] Was going to be hard, plans were solid but we missed out on execution. About picking ourselves up and starting again [in Hove]. Still some positives to take from this game. [Youngsters] Good when girls get an opportunity, like Grimmond making her debut today. Hopefully we have Staf and Campbell back for the next game.

Happy days, didn't have to do anything. Important thing was taking wickets through the innings. Hayley is such a big player for them but stemming the runs by taking wickets was our method. The chase looked calm and calculated and brilliant to watch. [Captaining] Pretty good, sometimes feels quite muddled and everything going quickly, but I just enjoyed it. [Matthews] If we bowl our best ball more often, we can put more pressure on her, but she played well. The wicket was good with a quick outfield, happy with that total in the end. [One-Day Cup form] That was an important part of preparation, to get cricket under our belts, and that showed today. [Keep momentum] Absolutely, down to Hove, new surface, new day. Hopefully adapt and have another good game.