File photo of Hayley Matthews.© AFP
West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews on Wednesday was named the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year and became just the second women’s cricketer from the Caribbean to get the honour. Before Matthews, former skipper Stafanie Taylor was crowned with the coveted accolade in 2015. Matthews was sensational with her skills from the bat and the ball. She defeated competition from Australia’s Ellyse Perry, England’s Sophie Ecclestone, and Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu. “I have been really blessed to have a pretty good year with West Indies wearing those colours, performing really well and helping the team,” Matthews said, according to ICC.
“Growing up I saw many of my idols getting these type of awards a lot, so to be able to come out as a player with this award is special for me,” she added.
The No.1 ranked ICC Women’s T20I all-rounder embarked on a journey that saw her produce a remarkable performance for the ages against Australia in a bilateral T20I series.
During the series, she scored 99*, 132 and 79 as the West Indies skipper proved to be a major hurdle to the Australian side. The 25-year-old’s 99* in the first game of the series went soon under the radar with her breathtaking 132 in a run-chase of 213 in Sydney.
The world-record run-chase in women’s T20Is saw Matthews tumble several records which included the highest individual score in a women’s T20I run-chase. Her overall score of 310 runs in the series set the milestone of most by any player in a women’s T20I bilateral series.
Matthews also had a good outing in the T20 World Cup. She amassed 130 runs and picked up four wickets.
Overall, she added 700 runs to her name in 2023, the most by any player in a year in Women’s T20Is. She also claimed 19 wickets at an average of 16.21 in the year.
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