WCPL 2024: Hayley Matthews signs victory with consecutive fifties

The Women’s Caribbean Premier League entered into its second day on the land of Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados steals the day from the home representatives. Hayley Matthews gave another victorious performance in her second match of the league for the Royals. 

The match was scheduled between the teams of Trinbago Knight Riders Women and Barbados Royals Women. The match was scheduled at the venue of Brian Lara Cricket Academy in San Fernando. It was the first match for the female players of Trinbago in this edition. 

The team of Trinbago was led by 33-year-old player, Deandra Dottins, and the Barbados Royals played under the captaincy of 26-year-old Hayley Matthews. Both the players represent the women’s International West Indies Cricket team and are from Barbados. 

In the Trinbago Knight Riders versus Barbados Royals in third season of WCPL, Hayley Matthews continued her storming performance and led the team to victory. She scored second consecutive half-century in the match and overshadowed other players. 

The match started between the two franchise-based teams with a toss that went in favor of Captain Hayley Matthews. The team of Barbados Royals came on the feild to bowl first and invetied the women batsmen of Trinbago Knight Riders to set a chasable score. 

The inning was oppened by Kycia Knight and Harshitha Samarawickrama, who both failed to set a good start for Trinbago. The very first ball of the match by Chinelle Henry started the success story for the Royals with the wicket of Kycia Knight. 

The team of Trinbago Knight Riders Women played 20 overs and concluded the inning with 113 runs on the scoreboard. Trinbago lost 9 wickets while facing 6 bowlers of the Barbados team, including Hayley Matthews, who all added wickets to their column. 

Captain Matthews dismissed 2 wickets of Zaida James and Jahzara Claxton in her spell of 4 overs. She gave 21 runs with an economy rate of 5.25. She also took two crucial catches in the match. 

After the end of the inning, Matthews came to open for the Royals along with Chamari Athapaththu to chase the target of 114 runs. Chamari Athapaththu lost her wicket early after scoring 5 runs for 6 balls with one four. 

Hayley Matthews stood at the strike till the end and led the Barbados Royals to the mark to seal the winning points. Captain Matthews scored 67 runs after facing 57 balls and sent 12 balls out of the boundary line. 

Hayley played with a strike rate of 119.64 and finished the match on the first ball of the eighteenth over with a four. The final total of the Barbados Royals team on the scoreboard was 116 runs for a loss of 3 wickets. 

In the first match of the WCPL 2024, she also stood like a lone warrior and ensured victory for the team in a high-pressure match. Against the Guyana Amazon Warriors, her score was 61 runs in 58 balls with 7 fours. 

In just two matches, Hayley Matthews scored 128 runs with 19 boundaries and 4 wickets in her name. In two matches, she scored two 50s and collected two Man of the Match Awards for her all-rounder performances. Out of four fixed games, Barbados already won two against both the participating teams.