Matthews’ 182 steers West Indies to victory over Zimbabwe

West Indies 299 for 6 (Matthews 182, Grimmond 53; Chipare 2-57) beat Zimbabwe 200 all out (Mupachikwa 86, Mugeri-Tiripano 26; Alleyne 3-44) by 99 runs 

Matthews extends her own record for most hundreds in ODIs for West Indies to 13

Captain Hayley Matthews' career-best knock of 182 was perfectly complemented by an all-round bowling performance as the West Indies rolled to a comfortable 99-run win over Zimbabwe in Harare on Thursday, taking a 1-0 lead in their three-match Women’s One-Day International series.

Matthews, predictably, was at the heart of the West Indies innings, featuring for all but the final five deliveries, helping them to 299 for 6, their second-highest total in the format.

The skipper got to a hundred off 107 balls before accelerating. The century was the 28-year-old’s 13th, the most in Women’s ODIs for the West Indies. Her masterful display came in just 156 deliveries and included 26 boundaries and two maximums. 

The Barbadian shared in a 128-run opening stand with Realeanna Grimmond, the joint fifth-highest for Windies for any partnership in the format and the second century partnership from the pair in four ODIs. 

                                    
They took turns being aggressive early on, scoring at an easy pace (128 balls), which spilt over into the 48-run (64 balls) stand with Shemaine Campbelle (13) that followed.

The acceleration began in the fourth-wicket partnership with Chinelle Henry (19), which produced 71 runs in 53 deliveries. When Jannillea Glasgow (5*) arrived at the crease in the 46th over, Matthews was in overdrive. The skipper turned down several singles to retain the strike, accounting for 30 of the 36 runs accumulated in their 22-ball stay.

Meanwhile, Grimmond’s 53 at the top of the innings was her third half-century in nine outings: a significant detail for the Caribbean side’s latest batting project, as only seven players have scored more fifties for the West Indies. 

Modester Mupachikwa played a lone hand of 86 in Zimbabwe’s hunt for 300 winning runs. The opener was fittingly dismissed by Aaliyah Alleyne (3/44), Windies’ leading bowler on the day. Mupachikwa’s was the last wicket to fall, and when it did in the 44th over, she had run out of partners and was left to calculate her way to a memorable first ODI century. 

It wasn’t to be, and the hosts were dismissed for 200. Things had looked much better for Zimbabwe 100 runs earlier. They had lost just two wickets in the 22nd. Then Afy Fletcher stepped up, removing Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano (26) to break a promising 49-run stand with Mupachikwa. 

Fletcher also removed Beloved Biza (11) to put the visitors back in control at 118 for four. Fletcher (2/31) was one of three Windies bowlers to claim two wickets, alongside Ashmini Munisar (2/27) and Jannillea Glasgow (2/37).